The Tamers of Time
by Tsubasa8
Summary: The Tamers and thier Digimon find themselves in the land of Hyrule, and the Tamers, each with a part of the sacred Triforce. The group soon joins the Hylian Link, on his quest through time. The Tamers must find thier counterparts to complete the Triforce,
1. The Dark Painting

Me: Hey, people! I know the Digimon Tamers/Zelda crossover has been done before, but this is just a joint project with my sister. I decided to take each of our most favorite things, combine them into a fanfiction, and, voila!

Espeon (my sister): Copy this and DIE!

Me: Yeah, my sister's a little crazy; don't mind her. By the way, the title, "The Tamers of Time," is not meant to overshadow Link or anything; not to offend any of you Zelda fans out there. After all, he _is the "Hero of Time." It just seemed like a great title (I can't remember what it's called when most of the words in a group of words begin with the same letter ^_^;). If it __did seem like it overshadowed him, my sister would tell me; she hates it when people mess with Zelda's image too much. Anyways, on with the show!_

Disclaimer: The original Digimon concept was created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Digimon Tamers was animated by Toei, dubbed by Saban, took over by Disney, and Zelda is by Nintendo. (Boy, Digimon went through a lot.) Parts of the opening were also from actual Zelda game footage. ^_^

                                                                                  
                                                                                **The Tamers of Time**

Chapter 1: The Dark Painting  
  


            Before life began, before the world had form, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaotic land of Hyrule. They were Din, the goddess of Power, Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the goddess of Courage.  
  
            Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms who would uphold the law.  
  


          These three great goddesses returned to the heavens, leaving behind the golden sacred Triforce. Since then, the Triforce has become the basis for Hyrule's providence. Where the Triforce stood became sacred land.  
  


          As time passed, the Sage of Light (Rauru) sensed that an evil was about to arise in the land of Hyrule. Thus, he thought that it would be better to split each of the three Triforce pieces into two, making six pieces in total. He kept one side of each Triforce piece in the sacred realm, and the others on the top, left, and right sides of a silver frame. The painting inside the frame, came from the Forest Temple. After that, he placed the item into a chest, and sealed it, burying it in the middle of Hyrule field. Using his magic, he made sure that the power sealed withen, would not be discovered by the approaching evil.  
  


***  
            In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule, the Great Deku Tree served as the guardian spirit. The children of the forest, the Kokiri lived with the Great Deku Tree. Each Kokiri had his or her own guardian fairy, except one. His name was Link.  
  


            Early one morning, Link was having a nightmare in his treehouse. It was the same nightmare he had every night. During a storm, Link would find himself standing in front of a mysterious castle. A rider on horseback, carrying a girl, would race by. The girl would look at Link as if to say something. Then, another rider would appear. This big man clad in black would look down menacingly at Link. Link would then awaken. At the moment, the boy was being rudely awakened by someone.  
  


            "Wake up, wake up! The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you!" The lad showed no signs of getting up. "Such a lazy boy! Why is the 'Hero of Time' such a lazy boy!? Wake up, wake up!" As Link opened his eyes, he saw a fairy floating in front of him. This fairy's name was Navi. Navi was sent to summon Link to the Great Deku Tree. Finally, Link, outfitted in green clothing, sat up in bed, stretching and yawning. He looked at the fairy curiously. 'Why does the Great Deku Tree want to see me?' he thought sleepily. Shrugging, he lifted himself up, and made his way over to his door.   
  


            "Hey! Hey, Link! Down here!" a voice called from below. The child named Link looked down. Who he saw, was his close friend, Saria, at the bottom of his ladder. "I see you got your own fairy now!" Link climbed down the ladder to reach her.   
  


            "Morning, Saria," he said, still a bit tired.  
  


            "Good morning, Link! I think the Deku Tree wanted to tell you something. I wonder what it is," she replied cheerfully.  
  


            "I know. This fairy told me," he said, gesturing at the floating ball of light above him.   
  


            "My name's Navi," the light purple fairy informed him.  
  
            "Sorry," he apoligized. "I guess I'll go see what he wants now."  
  
  


*****West Shinjuku, Tokyo***  
  
**

            "Hey, Jen!" Takato greeted his best male friend. Takato had caught Jen outside, after school had ended for the day.  
  


            "Hi, Takato."   
  


            "Hey, my class has to do a report on a piece of Japanese artwork for next week," Takato said.  
  


            "Yeah, me too."  
  


            "Really?"  
  


            "Yeah. I'm thinking of going to the art museum to look at some pieces. I might decide to do my report on one of those."  
  


            "Wow, that's a great idea! Can I come too? I want to get a first-hand look at some artwork. Maybe I can do my report on one of those as too!"  
  


            Jen nodded his head, "Sure, you can come. Is tomorrow at 10:00am alright with you?"  
  
            "It's great! Though…" Takato paused for a moment to think. "I'll probably have to leave Guilmon at home, right?"  
  


            "I guess so. Museums don't allow pets in there, let alone large, red lizards."   
              
            "I hope he'll be okay with it," Takato said in a worried tone.  
  


            "Just leave him lots of bread," Jen laughed. Takato cheered up, and laughed along with him.  
  


***  
  


            Jen was waiting outside the museum for Takato. Takato was usually late when it came to meeting up with others. He still remembered that Takato was the last one to reach for their journey to the Digital World. Oh, well. He didn't really mind _that much. He was only fifteen minutes late after all, but he still wanted to get a head start on his art report.  
  
_

            "Moumentai, Jen!" Terriermon had come along with Jen, disguised as a backpack. "Takato will get here sooner or later."  
  


            "You're right, Terriermon," Jen smiled.  
  


            "Anyways, I don't know what you're in such a rush for; doing work so soon is a ridiculous idea to me. Why not wait until later?"  
  


            "Terriermon, you're logic-"  
  


            "Jen!" a voice called from the distance.  
  


            "Hey, look who's finally here!" Terriermon quipped. "Is that…" He was looking at a large trenchcoat, which had something protruding from the back, and also seemed to be earing a hat.  
  


            "Hi, Terriermon! Hi, Jen!" came a familiar voice from the coat.  
              
            "You brought Guilmon?" Jen asked in a surprised voice.  
  


            "Well, I thought about it last night, and I really didn't want Guilmon to be lonely without me," Takato stated, glancing at Guilmon.  
  


            "You would only be gone for a few hours" Jen replied.  
  


            "Well, I also thought it might be nice to show him the artwork too. Isn't that why you're here, Terriermon?"  
  


            "Actually, I just wanted to tag along."  
  


            "And add his two cents to everything," Jen added.  
  


            "That too," Terriermon grinned.  
            

            "I don't know if we'll be able to sneak Guilmon in, Takato."  
  


            "I know, but if it worked for our camping trip, it should work here."       

              
            "Maybe…if we create a distraction, we just might be able to pull it off," Jen thought optimistically.  
  


            "What kind of a distraction?" Takato inquired. Jen took a moment to think.   
  


            "I've got it! It's simple, but it might work too," Jen said, as he pulled out a bottle of water from his _other_ backpack.  
  


***  
  


            "Hello, young man," the curator said, as Jen walked to the front of the museum. "It's not too often that we get young people coming to the museum voluntarily."  
  


            "Hello, sir. Actually, I'm here to do a report on Japanese artwork. May I have a guidebook?"  
  


            "Certainly," he answered, reaching under the desk.  
  


            "On second thought, can you make that two? I'm meeting a friend here, and I'd like to get one for him ahead of time."  
  


            "That's thoughtful of you. Of course you can." When the curator was behind the desk, Jen signaled to Terriermon. Promptly, Terriermon dropped the opened bottle of water he had in his paws. The water spilled all over the floor, creating a mess.  
  


            "Ah! I'm sorry!" Jen apologized. "I must not have packed up my stuff properly." Terriermon had started to snicker, causing Jen to jolt his body back, to make him stop.  
  


            "Don't worry. As long as it's just water, and not near any artwork, it's fine," the curator calmly said. "Here, I have some paper towels to clean that up."

            "Let me help you." Jen bent down to help wipe up the mess, making sure to block the curator's view of the entrance. Terriermon meanwhile, waved his paw at Takato and Guilmon. Cautiously, so as not to be noticed, the two of them made their way to the first museum room.  
  
            "Thanks for your help young man." The curator carefully picked up the soggy paper towels, and placed them in the garbage bin."It was no problem. The mess was my fault anyways."  
  
            "Well, just make sure it doesn't happen again, and enjoy your stay at the museum," the curator replied in a friendly tone.  
  
            "I will!" Jen answered, as he walked away.  
  
            "Are you guys alright?" Jen asked Takato and Guilmon.  
  
            "Yeah, we're fine," Takato said.   
  
            "Great. Well, I guess we should start looking for something to do our reports on. By the way, here's a museum guide."  
  
            "Thanks. Let's go!"  
  
***  
  
            "Hmm…how about this one?" The group had been walking around the museum for about forty minutes, and Jen had already decided to do his report on a sculpture of an ancient Japanese warrior. Takato, on the other hand, had yet to decide on what to do. Jen had suggeted choosing a painting, but there weren't any which had yet caught the gogglehead's interest.  
  
            "But I can't even tell what it's a painting of," Takato contrasted. He was beginning to think that it was useless coming here, and probably just should have looked for something at the library.  
  
            "Not all paintings are supposed to look like something; interpret it," Jen commented.  
  
            "I know, but it just…it doesn't _move_ me."

"_Move you? What in the world are you talking about? It's art! You just look at it!" Terriermon complained, getting tired of Takato's indecisivness, and being so quiet for so long.  
  
            "Terriermon!" Jen scolded his partner.  
  
            "What? Geez. Artists…"  
  
            "Hey!" Takato exclaimed.  
  
            "Sorry, Takato. He doesn't- ," Jen began, but was interrupted by Takato.  
  
            "No, not that, Jen." Takato began looking around the museum. "Haven't you noticed that during the time we've been here, we've seen no other people?"  
  
            "Huh?" Jen started thinking back. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Weird. There should be at least __some other people here other than us."  
  
            "Takato!" Guilmon spoke up.  
  
            "Huh? What is it Guilmon?" Takato looked down at his Digimon.  
  
            "I can smell a Digimon near here!" he exclaimed excitedly. Excitedly, because he recognized the Digimon.  
  
`           "A Digimon?" Takato and Jen chorused at the same time.  
  
            "He's right! I can sense her too!"  
  
            "Terriermon?" Jen reconfirmed with his friend. "Her?"  
  
            "Guilmon! Wait up!" Takato started running after Guilmon, as he had took off towards the familiar Digimon. "Don't go running off everywhere by yourself!"  
  
            "It's Renamon!" Guilmon called back, turning a corner.  
  
            "Wha? Renamon? What's __she doing here? Wait. If Renamon's here, then that must mean- " Before Takato could finish however, he had rounded the corner, and ran right to someone, toppling the both of them over.  
  
            "Hey! Watch where you're going!" the other person shouted at Takato.  
  
            "Ah, sorry! I- " 'Huh? That voice…' Takato thought in his head. He looked up at the person, to confirm his suspicions. Sitting across from him, was a girl his age, with auburn hair, tied into a spiky ponytail. This girl, he was familiar with, ever since he had first saw her in a dream he had. This girl, was Ruki Makino. "R-Ruki," Takato stuttered.  
  
            "Takato?" Ruki blinked. "So you are here; Renamon was right."  
  
            "Renamon?" Takato looked to his right, to sure enough see Renamon standing next to her Tamer, with Guilmon in front of her.  
  
            "See, Takato? I told you she was here!" Guilmon said happily.   
  
            "Y-yeah," Takato said, still a bit surprised to see the pair here. He turned back to look at Ruki, who had already stood up. She held her hand out. Takato just stared at her, spidly."Well, do you want me to help you up or not?"  
  
            "O-oh, yeah! Thanks." He greatfully accepted her offer, and she pulled him. At that moment, Jen and Terriermon arrived at the scene.  
  
            "Takato- Ruki?" Jen said, slightly surprised to see her here as well.  
  
            "Hey, Jen," she said.  
  
            "Hey, I'm here too!" Jen turned around so that Terriermon was now visible.  
  
            "Hi, Terriermon."   
  
            "Hiya, Digimon Queen," Terriermon playfully replied. Ruki smirked at him.  
  
            "Uh, hi, Ruki. What are you doing here?" Jen looked from Ruki to Renamon.  
  
            Ruki held her arms, saying, "I have to do an assignment on Japanese art." Takato's eyes widened at the coincidence.  
  
            "Really? Us, too! We came here to look at the pieces they have on display, hoping to find something to work on."  
  
            Jen placed his hand under his chin, thoughtfully. "Hmm…well, since we _are_ in the same grade, we should expect to be doing the same curriculum, right?" Ruki shrugged her shoulders.  
  
            "I don't know… not all schools choose to do the same project for a certain subject, do they?"  
  
            "Who cares?" Takato exclaimed happily. "Now I have two friends to help me find something to do!"  
  
            "You haven't found something yet? How long have you been here?" Ruki asked.  
  
            "Eh? Well, I suppose about…" Takato glanced at his watch, "fifty minutes."  
  
            "Hm. I guess that's to be expected," Ruki replied.  
  
            "Are you kidding me!?" Terriermon exclaimed all of a sudden. "Fifty minutes! That's almost an hour! We've just been past a whole bunch of- "  
  
            "Terriermon, be quiet!" Jen told his Digimon. "Someone might hear you!"  
  
            "I doubt that," Renamon finally spoke. "I can't sense anyone nearby at all."  
  
            "Yeah," Ruki agreed. "We've already been to some exhibits around the museum, but haven't come across anyone."  
  
            "Same here," Takato said. "It's just too odd for no one else being here besides us."  
  
            "Maybe everyone went to eat somewhere," Guilmon piped up. Everyone laughed at Guilmon's comment.  
  
            "Guilmon, not everyone is constantly hungry like you," Takato said between chuckles.  
  
            "Hey, guys," Terriermon was finally able to say. "Let's get going and find Takato something. It's way to hard being quiet all the time."  
  
            "Here, you can come down now Terriermon," Jen siad, as he lifted his partner off his back. "Since there doesn't seem to be anyone else here," he added. Terriermon, however, climbed back up, resting on his shoulders.  
  
            "I didn't mean that __I wanted to walk, but at least now I have a better view of the place," Terriermon smiled contently. Jen sighed.  
  
            "Takato, does that mean that I can come out from here too?" Guilmon was tugging on his garments.  
  
            "Yeah, sure Guilmon," Takato answered. He pulled off the stuff from Guilmon, stuffing them into his backpack afterwards.  
  
            "Come on, let's go this way," Ruki pointed in the opposite direction she had come from. "I haven't been over there yet."  
  
            "Alright, let's go," Jen agreed.  
  
            They walked down the hallway, passing by some paintings hanging on the wall. Jen suggested one of those, but Takato shook his head. When they entered the adjoined room, they found an amazing sight before them. This room was unlike any of the others, and was easily the most elaborate. The floor was made out of what appeared to be marble, as was the pillers supporting the astounding curved ceiling. There was a large window at the other end, with red, velvety curtains hanging about it. The walls were of a white, creamish colour, and there were fancy panels, framing the entire room.  
  
            Terriermon's, "Whoa! Check out this place!" basically summed up everyone's thoughts at that moment.  
  
            "Look, there's something over there!" Ruki pointed at something near the wall opposite them. The others followed her gaze.  
  
            There seemed to be another pair of curtains hanging around whatever was over there, at the opposite end. As they walked closer, the objects came into view, barricaded by a velvet rope.. On the wall, was a painting. The painting consisted of dark colours, depicting a dreary castle in the background, with dead-looking trees next to it. A wavy path came from the castle, entrance. At a closer look, they could faintly see the outline of a dark figure, riding down the path. The art was contained in a silver frame, with peculiar gold markings on the top and sides. It didn't really look like anything. More like pieces, of a whole. Their attention was then drawn to what was placed under the picture; a treasure chest. The chest was mahogany brown, bounded by leather straps with gold buckles. The chest looked quite ordinary, as if meant to not have attention drawn to it. The most unique thing about it though, was a triangular outline on the top.   
  
            "Hey," Takato finally broke the silence. "Doesn't that shape look like the triangle on Culumon's forehead?"  
  
            "Now that you mention it, it sort of does," Jen responded.  
  
            "Weird," was Ruki's comment.  
  
            "This is so cool! That's it; I'm going to do my report on that painting!" Takato cried with excitement.  
  
            "I've never seen artwork like this before," commented Jen. "Is there even any information on it in the library?"  
  
            "Hey, guys! Take a look at this!" Ruki was calling them over to a plaque which she had read over.  
              
            "What is it, Ruki?" Takato asked her.  
  
            "It's this plaque. It talks a little about the artifacts' background; it's pretty vague though," she answered. The others looked over her shoulder. "It says here that the treasure chest was found during an excavation. The chest was discovered in a vast field, in front of an old castle gate. The triangular symbol is thought to be the crest of the royal family which once ruled that area. Once open, the painting was revealed to be what was being kept safe inside. They think the painting once hung in the great castle, and the image displayed is the scene before it. As for the gold markings on the frame, since there's three, it's assumed that they are each a part of what the triangular symbol is."  
  
            "Everything about this stuff seem to be assumptions," Jen concluded. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of solid information, Takato.  
  
            "Oh, but I __so want to do assignment on this! It's so perfect; it's terrific!" Takato countered. He gazed longingly at the items before him. He _had_ to do his assingment on these. They were the only pieces which made him feel so riled up, and lit his artistic wick. Takato started to walk back to the front of the pieces, to take in all its magnificence.  
  
            "Takato," Ruki began, but Renamon intervened, after she came back from her own observation of the artifacts.  
  
            "Ruki, I sense a strange force eminating from these items," spoke Renamon, in a tense voice.  
  
            "Renamon?"  
  
            Terriermon was the next to speak. "I don't sense anything."  
  
            Guilmon said, "Guilmon doesn't feel anything either." He sniffed at it, then sneezed.   
  
            "Careful, Guilmon," Takato laughed. "There must be some remnants of dirt and dust on those things."  
  
            "Okay, Takato," Guilmon replied, wagging his tail. His tail, however, swung into one of the poles holding the velvet rope, knocking it over.  
  
            "Guilmon!" Takato cried. He tried to catch the rope before it fell, but as he did so, he tripped over the brown treasure chest. Trying to regain his balance, he placed his hand up on the wall, only to touch the painting. Suddenly, the painting started to shine a white light. Takato, shocked by this, tried to remove his hand, finding that he couldn't. "Help!" he called towards the others. "I can't move my hand!" Guilmon, Ruki, Renamon, Jen, and Terriermon leaping off him to help, ran up to Takato, trying to pry him off the painting. The light just grew, with greater intensity, covering the entire room in blinding radiance. The group began feeling a sensation, as if their bodies had unexpectedly become lighter. It was like falling into a deep sleep. The light intensified itself for a second, then dissipated as quicky as it had come. When the room was clear of the luminosity, there was no sign of anyone having been there._

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  
Espeon: To be continued!  
  
Me: Yeah, if we can find time to do it. The Ocarina of Time is so long. It'll take forever to go through the entire thing, especially when school starts back up.  
  
Espeon: Yeppers! Majora's Mask would be harder to do, though.  
  
Me: I wasn't talking about Majora's Mask.  
  
Espeon: Well, _I_ was.  
  
Me: *sigh* Anyways, how was it? Good? Horrible? Needs some fine tuning? R&R to your heart's content, but no flames, thanks.


	2. Encounters

Me: Sorry this took so long to put up. This being a pretty lengthy chapter should make up for it. We came across some bumps and problems trying to make the Zelda video game more real (such as day turning to night and eating). Also, if we write something that the Zelda characters are supposed to say from the game…don't expect it to be too accurate. We can't remember what they say exactly, so we might just make it up. Oh, well. This _is fanfiction after all, which also means…_

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or Zelda!

Me: By the way, me being me, I ended up putting in some Rukato stuff, so if you don't like Rukato…um…can you ignore it? ^_^; It's nothing major (I don't think), so it should be okay. Also, if anyone seems OCC…whoopsie. ^ ^;

  
                                                                  **The Tamers of Time**

Chapter 2: Encounters

  
            "Uhh…my head…what happened? I can barely remember." Takato was lying on his front, groaning in pain. He tried to think back to what had happened before he ended up here. 'Uhh…wait…wasn't I at the museum with the others? If that's the case, then…why am I lying on grass?' Takato flipped himself over, to see a blue sky above him, filled with slowly passing clouds. 'Ah! The others!' He immediately sat upright, and looked around for his friends. He found them close to where he was, but… their clothes… "Huh? What happened to their clothes?" Takato looked down at himself. Sure enough, his clothing had changed as well. His blue hooded sweater, which extended down past his waist, was now green in colour, as well as his wristbands. Across his chest, was a brown strap with a gold buckle. His pants were now full-sized, and a leather belt was placed around his waist. Gazing downwards, he saw that his sneakers were also replaced with boots. He reached up to feel for his goggles; they were still there. He pulled them off, to find that they were green too. "What in the world?" He slipped his goggles back on. When he brought his left hand down, he noticed that the triangular marking from the chest was outlined on the back of it. Not only that, but half of the left part of the triangle was outlined. "Wh-what? Why is the symbol on my hand? And why is a part of it split?" 

            "Ugh…where am I?" Takato heard a groan to his left. He looked up to see Jen flat on his back.

            "Jen!" Takato ran over to his friend. "Jen, are you okay?" he asked, helping him to sit up.

            "Yeah," he answered back. "Eh? Why are we wearing- "

            "I know," Takato said. "I have no idea where we are either."

            Jen glanced up at the sky. "Well, we're defiantly not in the Digital World. The Real World Sphere would be visible from here if we were." 

            Takato noticed some movement to his right. When he turned around, he saw Renamon, moving towards someone who seemed to be Ruki. It was a bit difficult to see her clearly from where he was, but it was definatly her. Takato was taken aback when he saw Renamon. She still looked like herself, but the colour of her fur had changed. Instead of yellow, she was now a light brownish in colour, and her gloves were black. 'That's right,' Takato reminded himself. 'The Digimon were with us when we were at the museum, so they should be here too, right?' He began to frantically look  about for Guilmon. He was relieved when he saw him, and called out, "Guilmon! Are you awake?" Slowly, he watched as the lizard-like Digimon rose up.

            "Takato?" Guilmon turned towards the direction he had heard the voice. "Takato!" he cried when he came into sight. Guilmon lept up and bounded towards his Tamer. When Guilmon got closer, Takato could see that, somehow, Guilmon was…glowing? "Takato!" Guilmon jumped on his partner, narrowly missing Jen's head as he did so.

            "Guilmon, get off!" Takato choked.

            "Oh, sorry," Guilmon childlishly said, as he got off his Tamer. "Takato, why are you wearing different clothes?"

            "I'm not sure Guilmon, but look at yourself!"

            "Huh?" Guilmon raised his paws to his face. "Takato, look! I'm full of light!" he said, as though it were perfectly normal.

            "Not only that, but you have wings on your back too! The markings on you are also a bit fuzzy, and you've gome from red, to a purplish colour!" Takato exclaimed, a touch horrified.

            "Purple? Ha! Take a look at me!"

            "Terriermon?" Jen looked behind him, bewildered. It was Terriermon alright, except that he was black with red and blue markings. Terriermon was wearing a smirk across his face.

            "Am I cool, or what?" Terriermon boasted.

            Takato laughed. "Looking good, Terriermon!"

            "Wow, Terriermon, look at you!" Jen said when he saw his Digimon.

            "I did. You should check yourself out," he retorted. Jen did as his Digimon said. He was now outfitted in a russet and coal coloured shirt and pants, covered in black armor. Attached to his shoulders, was a cape with gold designs printed on, fluttering in the wind. On his forearms were red and bue bands, connected to black armor with gold square markings on it, reaching over the back of his hands. He had something similar around the lower half of his legs, except that the armor was on his knees, and spikes replaced the square decorations. Boots were on his feet as well, except that they were a bit chunkier than Takato's. Jen was also surprised to discover that he had a sword connected to the back of his left leg.

            "A sword?" Jen said in disbelief. "This must mean we'll have to fight something here," he added, in a worried tone. Takato checked himself over again.

            "Hey, how come you have a weapon, but I have nothing?" Takato complained.

            "Huh? Uh…I don't know. Maybe your character isn't supposed to have a weapon," Jen answered.

            "What? Character?" Takato retorted, confused by his friend's logic. "You mean we're in a video game or something?"

            "Well, maybe not exactly like that," Jen clarified for him. "I think we're in another dimension or something, and our clothes changed to help us adapt to it."

            "So, you mean like, I'm an elf, and you're a warrior?" Takato asked.

            "Yeah, something like that," Jen replied back.

            "Well, if that's the case, then what's- " At that moment however, the four heard a yell echo throughout the field, freezing them in their spots. The yell didn't sound like one of fear though…more like…anger.

            "What was _that?" Terriermon inquired out loud._

            "Uh…is it just me, or did that shout sound familiar?" Takato timidly asked the others, though he felt he already knew who it was. After all, it came from the direction he had seen her.

            "Come on, let's go make sure," Jen said, as he raced off with the others tailing behind him. As they approached the source of the cry, Renamon came into view. She was watching someone beside her, crouched with their right had over their head. When they reached, Takato spoke:

            "Ruki?"

            "Eh?" Jen and Terriermon stared at Takato, then back at the person hunched over on the ground.

            Ruki quicky shot her head up and looked at them. After a second, she stood, still watching them, but angrily. 

            "Uh…Ruki?" Takato nervously said. Nervously, because of what she was wearing. Ruki was wearing one of the things she hated most; a dress. The bottom half of the sleeves were of a light blue colour, with gold trimmings at the cuffs. From the elbow up, it was a darker shade of blue, going down the front of her dress, past her waist. Around her was a golden belt, and further down, the dress reached the ground with its snowy white pureness. A gold brooch was fastened to the front, as well as the triangular image on the front flap of her dress. The triangle, however, had more details placed below it. Not only that, but her hair was let down to hang about her shoulders, crowned with a headdress to match the garment. Ruki moved at a brisk pace towards Takato, and grabbed him by the front of his collar.

            "What the heck happened to us!?" she shouted at him. "And why did we change!?"

            "Your personality didn't seem to change," Terriermon mumbled.

            "Terriermon, be quiet!" Jen hushed up his partner. "You're going to make things worse!"

            "R-Ruki, I really- " Takato began, but then noticed the triangle emblem on her headdress. He then remembered how he had found it on his hand. Takato took Ruki's right hand from his collar, and placed it in his own hands. Carefully, he examined the back of her hand, and saw that she had it as well. Tracing his index finger along the outline, he discovered that instead of half of the left side of the figure outlined, it was the right. Ruki instantly snatched her hand away from him, her cheeks covered in a slight blush.

            "What are you doing!?" she cried, holding her right hand in her left one.

            "Eh? Uh, sorry!" Takato said, a bit startled and red too. "It's just that I found the triangle marking on my hand, and wanted to see if you had it as well."

            "You could have asked, you know!" Ruki continued in a loud voice. Terriermon started to snicker. Jen nudged him in the side with his boot.

            "Terriermon!" he whispered. Trying to calm things down, he said, "I guess I should check for it on my hand too, huh?" He slid off his right armband. As expected, he too had the triangular image, but with part of the top piece coloured in. "Do you guys think each part represents something?" he asked the others.

            "I don't know," Ruki spoke, crossing her arms. "That plaque back at the museum didn't have a lot of information on it."

            "Hey, look over there!" Takato said, pointing at something. What he was pointing at, was a huge castle, surrounded by a stone wall with a wooden gate. "Doesn't that look like the castle in the painting we saw?"

            "Are you saying that we're _in _the painting?" Terriermon squealed.

            "Or maybe we're just in the time period and setting that the painting was displaying," Jen said thoughtfully. "That must be it," he concluded. "This is like another dimension or something."

            "Well, how are we supposed to get back?" Terriermon retorted, stunned by the answer he had gotten.

            "Hey!"

            The Tamers and their Digimon turned, to see a boy about their age, walking towards them. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears. He was wearing a green tunic and hat, with a strap and belt, quite similar to the ones Takato was wearing. On his back was a small sword and wooden shield. With every step he took in his boots, he made a small pattering sound. Floating above the boy, was what seemed to be a ball of light with wings.

            Once he had reached them, he asked, "Who are you people?" He directed his eyes towards Jen. "You! Why are you dressed like him?" he said, drawing his sword. Terriermon stepped in front of his Tamer.

            "Him? I don't know who you're talking about! We just got here," Jen replied with a confused look. Takato stepped in.

            "Uh, let us try to explain…"

***

            The group was sitting under a tree, shading themselves from the sun. Takato had just finished explaining what they were doing before, and what had happened to them. The boy seemed to accept their story for some reason, and had put his sword back in it's sheath.

            "I'm sorry I thought you were evil," the boy apologized to Jen. 

            "It's alright," Jen accepted his apology.

            "Jen, evil. Yeah, right," Terriermon qipped.

            "Terriermon!"   

            "My name is Link," the boy introduced himself as. "And this fairy is named Navi. She's my guardian fairy. 

            "Hi, everyone. It is very nice to meet you!" Navi greeted cheerfully.

            "Hi, Navi!" said Guilmon. 

            "Hello," she responded. She flew over to Guilmon. "Odd creatures," she gestured at the Digimon. "I've never heard of anything called a Digimon before. The future must really be something." 

            "Well, I didn't know that fairies existed in the past either," replied Takato with a grin.

            "That's true." Navi circled around the group. As she circled around them, fairy dust went everywere. The dust tickled the group, causing them to laugh. "Though, why are you glowing and have wings like a fairy?" 

            "Huh? I don't know," Guilmon simply said, smiling.

            "Oh."

            "Anyways," said Takato cheerfully, "it's nice to meet you, Link."

            "Same here," Link said.

            "Here, let me introduce myself. I'm Takato, and this is Guilmon." Guilmon waved his claw at Link.

            "Hi, Link!" the red Digimon happily greeted.

            "Hi, Guilmon!" Link smiled.

            "I'm Jen, and this guy here is Terriermon," Jen said.

            "Yo!" Terriermon saluted.

            "Hey, Terriermon!" Link was beginning to enjoy his newfound friends. He looked over at Ruki and Renamon.

            "I'm Ruki, and Renamon is my partner," she said.

            "Nice meeting you," the young Hylian replied.   
            "So, Link," said Takato. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? Maybe it'll help us understand this place better."  
            "Sure," said Link, sounding a little discougeraged; Takato had reminded him that the Great Deku Tree had died.  
            "Eh?" thought Takato. "Is something wrong?" he asked.  
            "UH!" said Link surprised. "No, no, it's nothing. I was just thinking of something else. Anyways, there was a great wise tree in the forest I come from, Kokiri Forest. The name of the tree was the Great Deku Tree. He was a guardian that protected one of the Spiritual Stones."  
            "What's a Spiritual Stone?" questioned Takato.  
            "I'm not too sure," replied Link. He took out the emerald, and showed it to the others.

            "Wow…" Takato said in awe.

            "I'll tell you everything that the Deku Tree told me. He said these very words:

***      

            "Oh Navi, thou hast returned!" said the Deku Tree. "Thank you, Link for coming. Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares. A vile climate pervades this world. Verily, ye have felt it. The time has come to test thine courage. I have been cursed. I need you to dispel the curse with your wisdom and courage. Art thou prepared?"  
            Link entered the Great Deku Tree and broke the curse.  
            "Well done, Link! I knew that ye were worthy of carrying out my wishes. A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse on me. Employing his vile, sorcerous energies, the evil one is searching for the sacred realm connected to Hyrule. For it is there that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, that contains the essence of the gods. Whoever holds the Triforce can make their wishes come true. Thou must never allow the desert man to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce. Thou must never suffer that man to enter the sacred realm of legend. Link, go now to Hyrule Castle. There, ye will surely meet the Princess of Destiny. Present this stone to the Princess. I have forseen that she will understand everything."  
            The Great Deku Tree gave Link the Kokiri Emerald. Before dying, the Deku Tree's last words were, "The future depends upon thee, Link. Thou art courageous."

***

            "Wow," said Takato. "That was quite a tale."

            "So, you were on your way to see the Princess when you saw us?" asked Jen.

            "Yes, I was," replied Link.

            "Ruki kind of looks like a Princess," Terrirmon whispered.

            "Terriermon!" scolded Jen. "Don't remind her!"

            Ruki glanced at Jen and Terriermon. They looked up at the sky, as if they had said nothing. She started to eye them suspiciously.

            "Oh, that reminds me," Link spoke up. "There was this owl sitting outside on a tree branch when I came out of the forest."

            "An owl?" Takato repeated.

            "Yeah, and it could talk too," Link replied.

            "Talk? What did it say?" Takato asked him.

            "Oh, he said, 'It appears that the time has finally come for you to start your adventure! You will encounter many hardships… That is your fate. Don't feel discouraged even during the toughest times! Go straight this way and you will see Hyrule Castle. You will meet a princess there… If you are lost and don't know which way to go, look at this map,' and he handed me a map of Hyrule. Then, he said, 'There are some children and creatures up ahead. Go speak with them. All right then, I'll see you around! Hoot hoot hoot ho!' " The others laughed when Link had finished his hooting.

            "I wonder why that owl wanted you to talk to us," Jen said when he had finished laughing.

            "He probabaly thought he could help us find out bearings," Takato said. "Well, I think we should go to Hyrule Castle and see the Princess with Link." Link looked surprised. 

            "Are you sure that's alright?" 

            "Of course! While we're there, we might get some answers about why we're here."

            "Takato," said Guilmon.

            "Yes?" answered Takato. "What is- "

            GROWLLLL!!! "My tummy is growling," said Guilmon. "Is it time to eat?"

            "Eat?" said Takato "EAT!! Oh, no, I forgot about eating! Link, do you know where we can get some food?"

            "Well, no actually. I didn't really think about that," he said.

            "HEY!!" yelled Navi from above. "I can see a lake, but there are some monsters there." Guilmon, however, had already begun his tread towards the pond. "Guilmon, don't go near that Pea Hat! They are very powerful!"

            Guilmon stopped. "If you say so, Navi!"

            "Navi," asked Takato. "How do you know about those monsters?"

            Navi flew down and said, "The Deku Tree taught me about all the monsters. What are thier weakness, where you find them, etc." Navi glanced over at Ruki, and flew towards her. "Why do you look so grumpy?"

            "Navi!" said Link "Don't say things like that in front of people!"

            "Sorry," said Navi. "So, how about the lake? It will most likely have some fish in it."

            "FISH!!" Guilmon yelled with excitement.

            "Let's go, Takato!"

            "Alright, Guilmon," Takato laughed. Guilmon took Takato's arm and ran in the direction Navi was facing, until they came to a iron gate.

            "Nice to see you again." Startled, Takato and Guilmon looked up, to find an owl resting on one of the posts.

            "Are you that owl?" Takato's eyes widened. The owl raised one of his large eyebrows at him.

            "_That_ owl?"

            "Takato!" Link called. He looked to see what Takato was staring at. "Mr. Owl! It's you again!"

            "Hello again, Link," the owl hooted. "I see you met up with the others."

            "Yeah, I did. They're coming with me to Hyrule Castle, but first we want to catch some fish to eat."

            "Ah. Well, beyond this point lies Lake Hylia. It is full of deep, pure water. The Zoras, who live all the way upstream, guard the sunken temple at the Lake's bottom, as well as Zora's Fountain." He hooted. "Be careful, and go on ahead!" With that, the great owl flapped his wings, and soared away into the clear blue sky.

            "That was interesting," Terriermon commented.

            "So, how are we going to get over these gates?" Ruki asked the others.

            "Hey, over there! A ladder!" Navi pointed out. Eveyone walked over to the back of a stone wall, to indeed find the ladder.

            "Guilmon and I will go first," Takato stated, grabbing onto one of the steps, starting to climb up it. When the pair got to the top, they carefully walked along the top of the wall shaped as a path, then climbed back down. Afterwards, they waited for the others to cross. Terriermon held onto Jen as he started to scale the wall, and Link followed with Navi. Ruki stared at the ladder, then at the gate. 

            "Renamon, can you jump over those gates?" Ruki asked her partner, but knew she probably could. She was Renamon after all.

            "Of course I can," Renamon responded to her Tamer. "Do you want me to take you over that way?" Ruki nodded her head, disliking the downsides to wearing a dress more and more. Picking Ruki up in her arms, Renamon gracefully leaped over the iron gates, landing next to the others.

            "Alright fish, here we come!" shouted Guilmon.

            When the group walked in further, what they found was a giant lake. 

            "Hey, what's that?" Takato pointed up at a house of sorts.

            Link walked up to Takato. "I don't know," he replied.

            "Well, let's just get something to eat for now," Navi said. "We can worry about that place later. We still have to go see the Princess after all." They all agreed. "There are monsters here, so be extra careful! Link and I will get rid of all the monsters, to make it safe for you guys. If you run into any trouble and need help, call for us." Ruki stepped towards them.

            "Hey, just because you only met us a few minutes ago, you think that we're totally defenseless? Well, we have our Digimon, and they can take care of any problems that we run into, including these pint-sized monsters. We've been up against bigger threats than those, you know, and- " Renamon placed her hand on Ruki's shoulder.

            "Ruki, I don't think that she meant that she thought we were weak or anything…" 

            "Uh, I'm sorry if Navi insulted you guys or anything," Link said.

            "Yeah, I didn't mean it that way, Ruki," Navi insisted, a bit surprised at her outburst. "It's just that I wanted to make sure the monsters didn't bother you guys while you fished." Ruki sighed. 

            "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." Pausing, she added, "I don't really want to fish though." She looked down at herself. "I don't think I'm dressed for it either."

            "Do you want to help us fight the monsters then?" Link asked.

            Ruki looked up and a smile appeared across her face. "Now you're talking! Let's go, Renamon!" Then, the four of them went off.

            "It looks like Ruki still enjoys a good fight once in a while, huh?" Jen said to Takato.

            "Yeah," he grinned.

            "Bleah," Terriermon stuck his tongue out.

            "Terriermon, why don't you go collect some wood for the fire?" Jen told his Digimon.

            "Fine," he said, and strolled off.

            "TAKATO!!!" yelled Guilmon "I'M HUNGRY!!!"

            "Okay, Guilmon!," Takato answered. "You can go ahead and fish."

            "Yay!" cried Guilmon. Just then, a crab like monster came out of the blue, as Guilmon was about to dive in.

            "Hey, shoo!" Takato yelled. This caused the monster to go after Takato. *POW!!* Jen kicked the monster in the face, and it burned up. 

            "Thanks, Jen," Takato said. 

            "No problem. I don't think it's a good idea to provoke those things."

            "Yeah, sorry about that. Hey, it looks like that monster left behind something." Takato was pointing at what seemed to be a blue crystal. Jen cautiously went up and touched it. *POOF!* It was gone.

            "Huh?" Jen said in disbelief. He started wondering what had happened, and what that blue crystal was, when…

            "Hey!" called Link. "We're back! So, where's Guilmo-"

            "TAKATO!!!!!" shouted Guilmon. "I caught a big fish!"

            "Okay, bring it here," Takato shouted back.

            "If you say so!"             

            "Well, while Guilmon brings the fish, we should make a fire," said Navi.

            "Here's the wood," Terriermon called. He was making his way back towards them, with a bundle of sticks in his arms and ears.

            "Guilmon can light the fire," said Takato.

            "Okay, then," said Navi, " we'll leave it for Guilmon to do."       

            BAM!! Guilmon slapped the fish down. "Here's the fish, Takato!" Guilmon chirped.      

            "Guilmon!" said Takato with a surprised voice. "This fish is huge!" Terriermon laid the kindling in the circle of stones Jen had made.

            "Guimon, can you make us a fire?" asked Navi.

            "Okay!" replied Guilmon. "Fire ball!" Guilmon launched his attack on the the pile of wood, lighting it instantly. FLASH!!! A nice warm fire was now before them. Guilmon started to scale, gut, and cut up the fish, with the help of Renamon and Terriermon.

            "Wow!" Link said in a astounded voice. "Digimon are really amazing creatures. Just over there, Renamon was able to take out two enemies with her attack!"

            Takato laughed. "If you think that's amazing, you should what they can do with when we card slash, and when they evolve."

            "That reminds me," Jen said. "Do we still have our D-Arcs and cards with us?"

            "Well, we still have our bags, so those things should be here too," Ruki replied, digging into her bag. "Here!" She held out her D-Arc and deck for them to see.

            "It must be because our Digimon are here with us. This dimension must have known that we would need these things here," Jen concluded, checking his own bag for his D-Arc and cards.

            "What are those things?" Link was looking over at Takato's D-Arc and cards.

            "Well," Takato started, holding up his D-Arc, "this helps us to connect with our Digimon. We can also use these," he held up his deck of Digimon cards, "to slash into D-Arcs, and boost their abilities. The cards are also a card game where we come from."

            "Can you show me?" Link asked.

            "Sure!" replied Takato. The Tamers sat down with Link, and began to explain the rules and object of the game to him. After some rounds of playing the game (where Jen beat Takato and Ruki in turn beat Jen), Renamon told them that the fish was ready to be eaten. When they went over to the fire, they found some sticks placed around it, each with a piece of fish. They all sat down around the flame, each taking a stick from the ground.

            "Hey, this is good!" Jen commented, biting into his chunk of fish.

            "I didn't know you guys could cook so well," Takato gestured towards the Digimon.

            "Renamon did most of the cooking," Guilmon replied, holding up two pieces of fish. "Terriermon and I stuck the fish onto the sticks." He started chomping on one of his pieces.

            "I could have cooked it too if I wanted to," Terriermon inputted.

            "Is that so?" Jen smirked at him. "Then I guess we'll have to let you try it sometime." Terriermon gulped.

            "Ah…yeah, sure…just say the word, and I'll get cookin'!" He launched his fist into the air. Ruki turned to look at Renamon.

            "You cooked this?" She was confused. When did Renamon learn to cook? Renamon simply nodded her head.

            "I sometimes watched your grandmother whenever she was cooking. I picked up on a few things." Ruki's eyes widened. She sometimes watched her grandmother cook as well. Her grandmother would even ask Ruki to help her on occasion. She began to wonder how well she would do at making something.

            "Well, this really tastes great, Renamon," Takato said.

            "Thank you," Renamon replied. Then, Takato remembered something. 

            "Hang on a sec…" He pulled out his knapsack, and began searching through it. After a while, he pulled out a bag of what seemed to be bread. "Here it is! Guilmon bread!"

            "Guilmon bread!" Guilmon cheered at Takato's discovery.

            "You only _now remember that you brought along food?" Ruki said in an annoyed tone._

            "Eh, heh…" Takato put his hand behind his head. "Well, I had brought it for Guilmon at the museum, but I guess I just forgot about it when we came here. Anyways, now that we're eating, does anyone want some?"

            "Guilmon bread?" Navi was floating above them, examining the Guilmon shaped loaves.

            "Yeah," Takato responded. "My parents own a bakery, so they made Guilmon bread for Guilmon."

            "I'll try some!" Link said, and Takato handed him piece. Link took a bite into the soft dough. "Hey, this is good! What's this inside of it?"

            "It's bean paste," Takato answered. He then handed out the rest of the bread to the others.

            "Hey, look, Jen!" said Terriermon.        

            Terriermon put the Guilmon bread in front of his face. "Now I'm Guilmon!" Jen laughed. "Hey, Takato!" he said. "Now you have two Digimon to take care of."   

            "Hey!" said Takato "I'm not taking care of two Guilmons! One is good enough for me!" Jen, Terriermon, and Takato laughed, while Guilmon was chewing on his bread.

            "Now, don't play with your food Terriermon." Terriermon stuffed the bread in his mouth. 

            "Okay, Jen."

            "Terriermon, don't eat like that! You'll choke yourself," Jen cried. Terriermon placed his hands next to his cheeks, and sqeezed. The bread got shoved down his throat, and into his stomach.

            "Whoa, that took some air out of me." Terriermon flopped down onto the grass, letting the air out of his mouth.

            "Well, we should go to Hyrule Castle now, huh?" asked Takato.

            "Yeah, I guess so," said Link, remembering that he had to go meet the princess.

            "Alright, let's go," replied Takato.         

            Navi went in front of Link's face and said, "Don't forget to put out the fire!"      

            "Right, I almost forgot!" Link took off his hat and put some water in it. He went over to the fire, squeezed it, and put it back on. 

            "Link, you're going to catch a cold!" cried Navi. 

            "Don't worry," said Link. "I'll put it to dry in the sun later." 

            "Alright, but if you get a cold, don't say I didn't warn you." 

            "That's fine," said Link. Navi flew back to Hyrule Field, while Link trailed behind.

            "I was putting out the fire," Link informed the others, as he went up to the ladder.                      

            After Link jumped down the wall path, they started walking towards the castle. Then: WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!! The group turned to where the "whooshing" sound had come from. What they saw was a Pea Hat, coming straight for them! Link drew his Kokiri Sword and took off his Deku Shield from his back.

            "Go! Hurry!" yelled Link.

            "Are you sure about that?" Takato asked. He didn't want to leave his new friend behind to fight all by himself.

            "Positive!" Link replied, holding his sword and shield in front of him.

            "Alright! We'll go and try to find some information," said Takato, "but if you take too long, we'll come back for you." 

            "Fine, then. Hurry up and go!" shouted Link, still focusing on the Pea Hat. The Tamers and Digimon ran to the draw bridge, while Link stayed to fight the Pea Hat.   

***

            When the group crossed over the wodden drawbridge, they saw a guard there, plus a big house. They didn't have time to check that out however; they needed to talk to some people. The guard said, "Welcome to Hyrule Castle Town. It's a peaceful, prosperous town," as they went past him. 

            "Thanks," Takato waved. 

            "Hold it!" The guard stuck his spear out to stop them. "What creatures are these?" he gestured at the Digimon.

            "Don't worry, they won't hurt anyone! It's alright really. Why would we be with them if they were dangerous?" Jen quickly responded. The guard thought about this for a moment. 

            "Alright, but if anything happens, I'm going to throw you all out!" Nodding, the group passed by a few houses, until they got to some kind of market. There was this girl chasing a Cucco, people fighting for items, a girl standing, people talking, etc.

            "Wow. There sure are a lot of people here," said Takato .

            "Yeah, where should we start?" asked Jen.

            "We should split up," suggested Ruki.

            "Good idea!" they both said, so the Tamers and their partners split up. 

***

            While on occasion there would be people a bit afraid of their Digimon, the Tamers also got their share of unique responses.

            Ruki kept getting weirdoes, that said: 

            "Hey, you look cute in that dress!" or 

            "Hey! I would go out with you if you were older!" etc. So, Ruki just stopped talking to people, before she lost her temper. 

            Jen got people who would just say: 

            "Aren't you a little young to be wearing armor and weapons?" or 

            "Hey, look! This kid looks so funny!"

            "These people aren't very helpful," Terriermon grunted.

            "I know," Jen replied. "Let's go see if the others found anything useful."

            Takato kept meeting boorish people, saying: 

            "Hey, move kid! You're in my way!" or 

            "Go away you little runt! You're bothering me!" Takato decided that this wasn't getting him anywhere, so went to search for his friends.

            Jen found Ruki leaning against a wall, her arms crossed. 

            "Ruki!" he called out to her. "Did you get anything?" 

            "These people are weirdos!" she yelled, as Jen approached her. Renamon walked up the Jen and whisperd in his ear about what happened to Ruki.

            "I see," said Jen "... these people ARE weirdoes," he added, deciding it was best to support Ruki's thought of these people.

            "Told you." 

            Terriermon just kept snickering. Since he was on Jen's shoulders at the time, he had also heard what Renamon had said. Jen reached behind his back and pulled on Terriermon's ear. This, in turn, caused Terriermon to fall over.

            "So, did you get any luck?" she asked Jen.

            "Nope. People just criticize my clothes."

            "See!" said Ruki. "Weirdoes! These people are completely useless."

            "Jen! Ruki!" called Takato. He ran over with Guilmon to join them.

            "Takato!" said Jen.   
            "Hey," said Ruki, still sounding a bit bitter.

            "Did you guys find anything?" asked Takato. 

            "You go first, Ruki," said Jen. "Tell Takato what people told you."

            Ruki blushed a little. "BE QUIET!!!" she yelled at him.

            "Sorry, sorry," said Jen quietly, putting his hands up in front of him.

            "I found out that these people are weirdoes!" 

            "Why are they weirdoes?" Takato had a confused look on his face. Jen walked up to Takato, and whispered to him. Takato's eyes widened. Guilmon cocked his head to one side, wondering what Jen had just told his Tamer.

            "Are you serious!?" Takato blurted out.

            "Yep," said Jen.

            "No wonder she's so upset." He looked up to talk to the whole group. "Well, I got these rude people who were fighting each other for items. How about you, Jen?" 

            "I got criticized about my clothes." 

            The whole group sighed.

            "Hey," Takato said abruptly. "Link has been gone a long time, hasn't he?"

            "Now that you mention it, he has," said Jen.

            "Let's go check up on him," said Ruki "At least we'll be away from these people!"

***

            The Tamers ran, then stopped. They heard a, "pit pat pit pat" sound. Slowly walking towards them, was Link. He was scratched up, dirty, and seemed to be limping a bit.

            "Link!" they choursed in unison, running up to the "Kokiri".

            "Sorry it took me so long to come back," Link greeted, "but Navi wanted me to dry my hat in the sun."

            "Hey, don't blame this on me!"cried Navi.

            "Nevermind that," said Jen. "Are you alright? You look beaten up!"

            "I'm fine," answered Link in a calm voice.

            "Well, you don't LOOK fine," replied Ruki.

            "No, really; it's nothing," said Link. Deciding he knew what he was doing, the Tamers and their Digimon followed Link back into the market. "I'm going to get some healing items." 

            "Do you have money?" Takato asked his green-clad friend.

            "Yep! I got some when I was fighting monsters."

            "Fighting monsters? The money didn't happen to look like a crystal, did it?" asked Jen.

            "Yes, actually," said Link "How did you know?"

            "When I fought a monster at Hylia Lake, it bruned up, and a blue crystal came out."       

            "Well, in that case, do you want to go with me?"

            "Sure," replied Jen. Link opened the door and went in with Navi, followed by Jen and Terriermon. Takato and Ruki were left alone outside with their partners. Guilmon was asking Renamon about the monsters she fought at the lake. They were comparing the enemies they had to fight in the past, to the ones they might have to face now.

            "What?" Ruki had caught Takato staring at her.

            "Uh- um- n-nothing!"  he stammered, turning his head away quickly, blushing. This was the second time he had looked at her like that, since that day in the underground tunnel. "I-it's just that I've never seen you in a dress before." He paused. "I-it looks nice on you…"

            It was Ruki's turn to blush. "Well, don't get used to it," she turned away. "I'll be glad once I'm out of this thing."            

            Silence. This was beginning to make Takato feel uneasy. He decided to try and talk about something else.

            "Hey, what's that?" Takato pointed at something up high.

            "It looks like a church," replied Ruki, looking up. 

            "Look! There's also a mountain behind it!"

            "It looks pretty tall from here."

            *UANN OHNN!*       

            "That sounded like a door opening and closing," said Takato. 

            "It's Link and Jen," Ruki responed, glancing behind her. "Guys, over here!" They spun around. 

            "Hey," Link said, walking towards them. "So, did you get any good information while I was fighting?" The three of them shook their heads.

            "So, Jen," asked Takato. "Did buy anything interesting?"

            "I bought a nut," he replied.

            "It is a Deku Nut," said Navi. "Just make sure you don't drop it, or you will regret it."

            "I only had 5 rupees," said Jen, "but they gave me a discount, since I look like the evil one."

            "How much was it supposed to be?" Takato inquired.

            "10 rupees each," Jen said. "I was able to get 5 Deku Nuts. Here, you can have them Takato; since you don't have any weapons."

            "Thanks, Jen," said Takato. "I wonder why I didn't get any weapons like you did."

            "Neither did Ruki," Terriermon spoke up. "She's just a defenseless damsel in distress," he smirked.

            "Need I remind you that I still have Renamon with me?" Ruki had overheard him. Terriermon looked up at the tall brown Digimon.

            "Did I say defenseless damsel in distress?" Terriermon said innocently. "I meant a Queen of Digimon with a kick-butt partner. Eh heh heh…" 

            "We should get going to the Hyrule castle now, don't you think?" Navi intervened.

            "Yeah, I guess so," Link replied.

            "Excuse me," said a little girl. She wore a white dress, but not as long as Ruki's. It had short sleeves with a yellow collar, and the sleeve cuffs and hem had a blue print around it. Her hair was long, reddish-brown, and she was the same height as Link. She looked Link over. "Hey, your clothes! They're…different… You're mot from around here, are you?"

            "No, I'm not actually," replied Link. "I came from Kokiri Forest." 

            "Ohh… So, you're a fairy boy from the forest!" she cried. "My name is Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch! Did you say you were going to Hyrule castle?"

            "Yes, we did," Link answered.

            'Fairy boy?' he and the others thought. 

            "Really?" said the girl with excitement. "Well, can you help me?" 

            "Sure," Link smiled.

            "Alright, I'll meet you there," she replied, and with that, she ran off to the castle.   
            "Link, are you sure that we can trust her?" asked Navi.

            "Don't worry, Navi," Link answered. "You can tell by the look on her face. She was telling the truth. She looked…sad."

            "Oh…if you are sure…" Navi trailed off. Link smiled up at his guardian.

***

            The group strolled along the path to Hyrule castle, when they came upon Malon. She was waiting for them, standing near some vines. 

            "Hi!" she said. "Okay, first see if the guard will let you in." So, the group went to talk to the guard near the gate. They walked up to the guard.

            "Excuse me," said Link. "Do you think we can see the Princess, please?"

            "What!?" cried the guard in astonishment. "So, you say you want to see Princess Zelda, eh? You probably heard about her in town and decided you had to meet her… Well… Go home! Get out of here! The princess would never grant an audience to the likes of you! Besides, you can't get past our tight security," he scoffed at them. He stared at the Digimon. 'What in the world are _those things?'_

            "If we don't talk to the Princess, all of Hyrule will be destroyed!" countered Ruki.

            "Sure," the guard said sarcastically, "and I'm the King of Hyrule."

            "More like the king of morons, if you ask me," whispered Terriermon.

            "Terriermon!!" Jen whispered back.

            "Sorry," he replied sarcastically. 

            "And YOU!" he pointed accusingly at Ruki. "Who do you think you are wearing clothes similar to the Princess' garments!?"

            "What!?" Ruki cried, completely baffled.

            "Take those clothes off right now!" he demanded.

            "WHAT!?" Ruki yelled in astonishment. "What the heck are you- Man! I am gonna- Hey, let go!" Takato and Jen had grabbed Ruki, starting to cart her off back to where they had come from. Link, Navi, and the Digimon followed.

            "Uh… don't worry, we'll take care of it sir," Takato told the soldier over his shoulder.

            "Like heck you will!" Ruki steamed.

            "Ruki, relax; we're just going back to where that girl is. Nothing more," Link assured her. "That _is_ what we're doing, right?" Link asked Takato, not exactly sure if that _was what he had in mind._

            "What!? Of course!" Takato stammered. Terriermon started snickering in the back. Renamon gave Terriermon a light kick in the sides to make him stop.

            "Ow!" he complained. Looking up, Renamon gave him a stern look. "Sorry," he apoligized, still trying to keep himself from laughing out loud.

            When they reached Malon, waiting for them, they let go of Ruki. She approached them, asking, "Any luck?"

            "Nope," said Terriermon laughing, jumping up onto Jen's shoulder. "The king of morons thought we were lying."

            "Terriermon!" said Jen.

            "Moumentai, Jen." Jen sighed.

            "Why are you laughing if he didn't let you in?" she wondered, at bit confused.

            "Pfft! It's because-," but Jen pulled him down, wrapping his arms over his mouth.

            "It's nothing," Jen told her, smiling yet sweatdropping. Ruki crossed her arms, looking away from the others.

            "Huh?" Malon rose an eyebrow.

            "So," Link changed the subject hurriedly, "how can we help you?" 

            "Oh! Well, you see," she began, "Dad went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet… Would you mind finding my dad? He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing for an adult to do!" she laughed. "Oh yeah, if you'll look for him, I'll give this to you." She held out a Cucco. "My dad's a pretty heavy sleeper…"        

            "That sounds like someone I know," whispered Navi. Link stared at Navi.         

            "I don't mean _you_ of course!" LIED Navi.

            "…but this Cucco can wake anyone. Will you do it?"

            "Of course we will!" Link promptly replied.

            "Great!" She handed the cucco to Link, which had it's beak tied up. "Thank you! I'll wait for my dad to get back, here." 

            "Right," Link responded.

            "We should be able to climb up these vines," Navi said, flying up to the top. Takato sent Guilmon up first, and he followed. Terriermon sat on Jen's head while he went up next, and Renamon jumped up with Ruki. Link went up last.

            "So, now that we're here," said Takato, "what are we going to do next?"

            "Look, there's a ladder leading down that hole!" Navi pointed out to the others. The group went over to the hole, one by one going down it. They ended up in a small room with a torch and a door. Slowly, Link opened the door. He saw the guard from before standing near the iron gate. Cautiously, the group made their way to a large rock. When they got there, there was a sign that read: "Dead End."

            "I don't think so," said Navi. "I don't know how to explain it, but I sense a strange force coming from behind that rock. If we could only blast the rock out out of the way…"

            "Well, I don't think we want to cause a blast," said Jen quietly. 

            "Right," said Navi. "We better keep going." They began walking up the hill, when…

            "Watch it!" said Terriermon. "Here comes the king of morons' minions." Jen put his hand over Terriermon's mouth. Terriermon tried to get his hand off, but Jen had an incredibly tight hold on him. They group ran to hide behind some trees.

            "Did you see anything unusual today?" the guard that was near the gate entrance asked his companion.

            "No, sir," said the other guard. "Why do you ask?"

            "There was these bunch of kids, and weird monsters that were asking me if they could go see the Princess," he replied. "Well, anyways, I'm going to talk to the other guards." He walked away. Finally, Jen let go of Terriermon's mouth. Terriermon gasped for air.         

            "Monsters!? Where does he get off calling us monsters?" he murmered. "_He's_ the one who won't let some innocent kids and their friends go in to help save Hyrule! "

            "You're Digimon! That stands for Digital Monsters!" Jen hissed at his darkend partner.  

            "Oh, right." 

            Everyone sighed.

            "Come on, we'd better get moving," said Takato. The group slowly walked past a guard, then another, then another, until they came to two guards on either side of a pathway. Carefully, they went up the hill it went around.

            "Wait," whispered Terriermon. "Look." There was a guard in front of them, about four meters away. They gradually went past the four-meter-away guard, past another guard, and another. When they got to a closed draw bridge, they stopped. There were two guards standing on either side of the entrance.

            "If the draw brige is closed, how are we going to get in?" asked Terriermon.

            "We'll have to find another way," Link gazed around.                

            "There! A wall," said Navi. The group looked over to where Navi was gesturing. She was right; there was a wall. It looked climbable, so the group creeped towards the wall, and climbed it the same way they went up the vines. They crossed paths with a strange looking stone as they got to the end of the trail. Jumping down from the trail, little by little, they tiptoed behind the two soldiers, and walked the rest of the way. 

            "Stop!" Terriermon said all of a sudden. 

            "Terriermon!" scolded Jen. "There are guards over there!" Terriermon looked back.

            "Ah…!" Terriermon waved his paw. "They're twenty meters away." He promptly stuck out his tongue and made faces at them.  

            "Terriermon!"

            "Anyways, I can hear something," Terriermon spoke up.

            "Coming from were?" Jen asked.

            "Over there!" 

            The group looked to where Terriermon was pointing. There they could faintly see the outline of a man, and some big crates. They skulked closer, just in case it was another guard. As they got closer, they could hear a noise. 

            "Hey," said Ruki. "That sounds like…snoring?"

            "Snoring?" Terriermon raised an eyebrow.

            "Maybe it's that girl's father," said Takato. The group quickened their pace, and sure enough it was him, snoring away.

            "Z Z Z Z Z…" he snored. Mumbling, he said, "Welcome…our ranch is so fun… C'mon and look around… Z Z Z…"

            "Hurry," said Terriermon, "unleash the cucco!" Jen tapped Terriermon lighty, on the top of his head, and Terriermon stuck he tounge out with a smile. Link removed the band from it's beak.

            "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" sounded the Cucco.

            "What in tarnation?" he cried. "Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?" The man got up, and blinked at the crowd before him. "Hello, and who might you all be?" The group sweatdropped.

            "Uh…well I'm Link, and these are my friends," Link responded. "Say, do you happen to come from Lon Lon Ranch?" 

            "Yep, I'm Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. I went to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep…" he replied sheepishly. "Why do you ask?" 

            "Well, your daughter asked us if we could look for you once we got here," Takato answered this time.

            "What?!" Talon yelled. "Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now!"

            "Well, she's waiting for you outside the castle gate," Jen said.

            "I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me!" he went on. Running off, he cried, "She's really gonna let me have it!" As he ran, he left a trail of dust behind, the Cucco following. Everyone once again sweatdropped.   

            Glancing to his right, Takato saw a door. "Hey, I wonder if we can go through here." He walked over to the door, pulling on the handle. "Ah, no good; it's locked," he told the others.

            "Look," said Navi. "There is a hole from where the running water is coming out." They stared across the moat, at the opening. There was definitely water coming out of the hole. They couldn't reach it from where they were however. Link looked over at  the two crates of milk Talon had left behind. 

            "Hey, maybe we can use these," Link said, taking hold of one of the boxes. Jen helped him out, pulling hard. Then, they went around and pushed it over the ledge. *BAM!* The large box made a great stepping block, but the hieght was still to short to be able to jump over. They pulled and pushed the other box on top of the other, so that it was now tall enough to allow them access to the hole. One by one, the group jumped over to the hole, and crawled through. When they got in they were standing in a fountain. They looked around, seeing a door, and a wall with some boxes placed next to it. Just then, a guard went past behind the adjacent wall, yet abruptly turned, so he did not see the group. 

            "Close one," whispered Terriermon. The group ran for the wall. *Cling cling cling* Terriermon peeked to see what was making the noise. Jen quickly pulled him back, as the guard missed Terriermon's ear by a millimeter. The guard didn't notice Terriermon, because of his height.

            "Terriermon!" Jen spoke in an undertone. "You nearly got us caught!"

            "Sorry." 

            "How are we going to get past those guards?" questioned Takato. Navi flew high, looking around. 

            "That's it!" cried Takato. Everyone put there hands on his mouth. *Cling cling cling* 

            "Hurry, the boxes," whispered Link. "We can hide behind them."

            The group ran to the boxes and hid. Navi watched above and started freaking out.

            "What to do, what to do," she repeatedly said to herself. "What to do…" The guard walked over to the crates, stabbing his spear through a row of them. The group had to part in half for a bit. The guard pulled out his spear. "Odd. I thought I heard someone." He was about to prod the crate again, when another guard called him over. The group's guard went over to the other, getting distracted from what he was doing.

            "Man, that was too close for comfort," murmered Terriermon. "WAY to close."

            "Alright, now that the guard is distracted, we can go," said Takato.

            "Geez, Takato," sighed Ruki. "You almost made us shishcabobs!"

            "Oh, yeah," said Takato, rubbing to back of his head. "Sorry about that."

            "Takato," Guilmon started. "What are shishcabobs?"

            "Huh? Uh…well, they're these sticks with pieces of food on them, and-"

            "Food?" Guilmon interrupted him. "When can I try some?" he happily smiled.

            "I don't think we have time for this conversation right now," Renamon spoke up.

            "I agree," Jen said. "Let's go before the guard comes back." 

            "Wait," said Takato. "I have an-"

            "Hey, you guys," Navi flew back down. "That was close, huh? Well, when I was up there, I saw a soldier going around this flowerbed. It's pretty big though, so if we go one by one, he shoudn't notice us."

            "Thanks, Navi," Link said to her. "Let's go, guys." Sighing, Takato and the others carefully made their way past the guard, one by one.        

            "The next area has these soldiers each circling around a founatin. The fountains are pretty big though, so if you time it right, neither of them will see you," Navi informed them. Once again, each of them rushed by without trouble.

            "What's next, Navi?" Link asked once she had arrived at the group once again.

            "A sort of archway that has vines growing all over it. It's above the room the guard is in. If you climb up the stairs, the guard won't see you, even if he comes back. He's revolving around the beam holding it up you see," Navi said. 

            "That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Takato responded. Two by two this time, they went up the stairs to move across the beam holding up the greenery.

            "Hey, Jen, watch this!" Terriermon whispered as he went up the steps.

            "What? Terriermon, wait!" Jen whispered back urgently. "What are you doing?"

            "I'm gonna run across this beam, then float back down!" he replied, preparing his footing.

            "What!? Terriermon, don't! You'll get us caught!" Jen tried to stop his Digimon partner.

            "It'll be great! It's just a straight beam. What could happen?" He took off. 'Yeah!' he thought to himself. When he looked up, however… 'Ahg! Ruki hasn't gotten off yet?' Sure enough, Ruki was still on the beam, almost at the end. 'Oh, no! I CAN'T STOP!' The momentum Terriermon was going at was too much. He ended up ramming into her. Terriermon used his ears to prevent himself from falling, but that wasn't the case for Ruki. She ended up falling off the end of the beam. 'Oh, no!' Terriermon closed his eyes. 'Hang on a second…why didn't I hear a crash?' Terriermon got up to reach the end of the beam. When he looked down, he had to stifle his laughter, incase the guard heard him. The sight at the other end was one of Ruki falling on Takato, and Renamon prevented the fall of the two by having to support Takato. The two Tamers looked at each other, faces heating up. They managed to quickly stand upright, while Terriermon joined them.

            "Sorry about that," he smiled.

            "Terriermon, you nearly got us caught with that little escapade of yours!" Jen had followed him to the other side. 

            "He's right, Terriermon," Takato retorted.

            "I fell because of you!" Ruki scolded him.

            "Yeah, but you were caught, weren't you?" he grinned.

            "That's not the point!" she hissed, though Terriermon thought that this was one of the reasons she was angry with him.

            "Guys, come on!" Link tried to keep them calm. "If this keeps up, we'll definitely be discovered."  

            "Right," Jen responded, jumping down.

            "Guys," Navi had come back from her observation of the next room. reaching the top of the archway. "There's a huge monument over there with two guards."

            "So one by one again?" Takato asked.

            "Yep," Navi replied.

            "Alright, here we go again," Link said.

            Once they had all gone across the room, they leaned against a raised flowerbed. The flowerbed was the only thing keeping them from the guard's view in this room. The soldiers here were moving around and around in a circle, nonstop. The only time they would stop was when one guard was in front of the entrance, so there was no way to get around them. Navi flew down to the others. 

            "There is no way for us to go around these guys," sighed Navi. "They don't stop, and they're moving at a quicker pace than the others."

            "That's impossible," said Jen.

            "Yeah, they aren't robots," replied Terriermon.

            "Robots?" said Navi. "What are robots?"

            "Uhhh…" Terriermon was thinking, "nevermind." While the group was just sitting there, a guard passed by and saw them. *TWEEEEEEEET!!!* went a whistle. They quickly turned around. A guard was pointing his spear right in front of Link's face. Link and the rest of them sat still, shocked. The other guards came running. 

            "INTUREDER!!!" yelled the guard. "THROW THEM OUT!!!"

            The guard forced them to a door, hands raised, still pointing at them with his spear. The other guard that was with him opened the door. The guard made the group go through the door, then closed it as he followed them. As they came to another door, the guard slowly opened it. Light came through the crack in the door. The guard raised his spear, then pushed the group out the door. Everyone tumbled onto the ground.

            "Hey!" shouted Terriermon angrily. "Don't push us so hard!"

            "I can do as I like," said the guard. "When it comes to protecting the Royal Family, there is no room for being gentle." With that, he slammed the door shut.

            "WELL!!!" Terriermon huffed. "SEE IF WE SAVE YOUR BUTT FROM THE RISING EVIL!!!" Jen quickly got off the floor and started running after Terriermon in circles. Eventally, Terriermon got too tired trying to run anymore, so he just plopped himself on the floor. Jen picked him up. As everyone dusted themselves off, Takato remembered his idea from before.

            "Hey, you guys," he said. "I remember my idea to get past those soldiers!"

            "Well, Mr. Forgetful," said Terriermon, "what was your idea?"

            "Terriermon!" said Jen. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"

            "No more sleep," ranted Terriermon. "No more…..zzzzzzzzzzz"

            "Well, anyways," said Takato, "my idea was that we should fly across the room."

            "You know," said Ruki, "that isn't such a bad idea."

            "So, we'll have to get in again and try it," said Link.

            "Hopefully, we won't get caught again," Jen said. "I'm pretty sure they won't just kick us out this time."

            "I don't even want to think about what they would do the next time we get caught," said Takato.

***

            The group were now back at the two circling guards, where they were last caught.

            "Okay," said Ruki, "now it's time for your plan, Takato." Takato took a deep breath. He was worrying about what his friends would do to him if his plan backfired, and what the guards might do if they got caught again.

            "Alright, let's go," said Link. 

            Navi was on lookout, and Guilmon was the transporter. He picked up Takato under his arms, and flew him over. Next was Jen and Terriermon, and then Link. When Guilmon came to get Ruki however, she refused. Not because she didn't want Guilmon's help, but because of what she was wearing, and the fact that there were boys at the other end. So Renamon, as stealth as she was, leaped over to the group with Ruki in her arms, and Guilmon flew back. Takato was relieved that his plan had worked. 

            They now only had a stone archway to go through. Carefully, the group travelled through it. As they approached the other end, they saw a girl standing in front of a window. She was too far away to get a really good look at her, and there were no guards in sight, so they slowly walked in. Carefully approaching the girl, they stopped. 

            "Excuse me," Link caustiously said. 

            "Who?!" The girl quickly spun around. When she turned, they saw that her clothes looked like Ruki's, but her dress was composed of pink, blue, and white colours. Her pink/white head dress had a golden medallion on it. The medallion had a the same triangluar marking that they Tamers had on thier hands.  

            "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" she gasped.

            "Heh, getting past those guys was a piece of cake," Terriermon said with a smirk.

            "Except we got caught the first time," Jen reminded him.

            "So? Well still made it past them in the end!" Terriermon rejoiced, snapping his fingers.

            "Oh?" The girl looked up, above Link's head. "Is," she paused, "that…a fairy?!"

            "Huh? Oh, yeah! Her name is Navi," Link answered her question.        

            "Then, are you… Are you from the forest?" Link nodded. "Then…then… you wouldn't happen to have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you?! That green and shining stone… Do you have it?" Link answered by pulling the stone out from his tunic, and showing it to her. "Just as I thought!" she giggled excitedly. "And, did you three come from the skies?" She was asking the Tamers and their Digimon.

            "The skies?" Terriermon repeated.

            "Actually, we're not really sure how we got here," Jen said.

            "My head _did hurt when we woke up here, so I guess maybe we did," Takato replied. "We were unconcious when we wound up here, so we couldn't really tell where we came from."_

             "Hmm…" the girl before them wondered. "I had a dream… In the dream, dark clouds were billowing over the Land of Hyrule… But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, as well as three more from the sky. The ones from the sky were red, blue, and green in colour. The clouds parted and the lights lit up the ground… They then turned into figures; the one from the forest was holding a green and shining stone, followed by a Fairy, while the others had were holding stange objects in their hands, each one one of the three colours of the lights. There were also these three other figures were with them, but I could not tell what they were… I know this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest and skies… Yes, I thought you might be the ones…" She straightened up. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized.  "I got carried away with my story and didn't even introduce myself!" The group listened intently. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule," she smiled. 

            "So, _you're the Princess," everyone happily choursed; they had finally found her. _

            "Yes, I am. What are your names?" Everyone introduced themselves, but when it was Link's turn, Zelda seemed to be thinking. "Link… Strange…it sounds somehow…familiar." Her face brightened, "Okay, then… I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone…" They all nodded in agreement. "Alright. The legend goes like this: 

When the goddesses returned to where they had came from, they had wanted to hide the sacred Triforce somewhere in Hyrule. You see, whoever holds the Triforce can be granted a wish. In the hands of  a person with a righteous heart, there would be a golden age and the land would prosper. Someone with an evil mind however, would be consumed by their evil, and bring chaos upon the land. The Sages therefore, placed three shards of the Triforce in the Temple of Time, to be protected from evil.

That's right… The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect the Spiritual Stones. And another thing you need…is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend… The Ocarina of Time! As for the remaining shards, they were hidden away by one of the Sages, so that if evil did arise, three young heroes would find them in the future. Having found them, these children would come back to our time, to help destroy the evil." She looked at them. "Did you understand well the story I just told you?" The Tamers were gaping. They had recalled the painting in the museum, and the image of the Triforce with three glittering pieces.

            "Wait," Jen began. "Does that mean that we're those three heroes from the future?"

            "That's correct," she nodded.

            "Okay, so we're those three from your dream," Ruki said. "I understand that, but…" She looked at herself, and then the others. "Why are we dressed the way we are?"

            "I've been wondering that too," Takato added.

            "Oh, I forgot to tell you…" She stepped aside. "I was spying through this window just now… The other element from my dream…the dark clouds…I believe they symbolize…that man in there!" she gestured. "That's who you are dressed as, Jenrya. Do any of you want to look through the window at him?"

            "I'll go first," Jen volunteered. "I want to see this guy who I'm dressed as." He went up to the window and peered through it. The man _was_ dressed in dark clothing, similar to Jen's. He walked across the room to the front, kneeling on one knee, an arm across his chest. 'He must be in front of the King,' Jen concluded. The others took turns gazing through the window, while Zelda continued speaking.

            "Can you see the man with the evil eyes? That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert far to the west. Though he swears alligence to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream… They must symbolize that man!" Link went up the window. Seeing this man, he thought back to his nightmare. 'It was him, wasn't it?' Suddenly, Ganondorf turned his head to face Link. Startled, Link let go of the windowsill and stepped back.

            "Link, what happened?" Takato asked.

            "Did he see you?" Zelda specified. Link nodded. "Don't worry. He doesn't have any idea what we're planning…yet! To answer your question earlier, since Ganaondorf, Link and I are the ones after the Triforce in this time, that's why you three are dressed like us. As for your Digimon, they resemble someone close to us; someone who help aid in our quest."

            "So that's why Guilmon looks like mei," Navi concluded.

            "And I'm the evil guy?" Jen spoke.

            "But you're not evil in reality, so that shoudn't matter," Takato said.

            "You're just dressed like him; I don't think that will affect your attitude," Ruki helped to support him. 

            "Yeah, just look at Ruki!" Terriermon chuckled. At that, Ruki grabbed him by the ears, starting to squeeze them. "Ouch! See? Ow! Stop! I take it back! Ahh!" 

            "Um…have you told your father about your dreams?" Link turned to Zelda.

            "…Yes. I told my father about my dreams…" she replied. "However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy… But…I can sense that man's evil intentions! What Ganaondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And he wants to conquer Hyrule…no the entire world! Now…we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule! Please!"

            "Of course we'll help!" Link said.

            "Definately!" Takato cried. "You in, Guilmon?"

            "Guilmon is ready, Takato!" Guilmon grinned.

            "Yeah, who wants some crazy, power-hungry maniac in charge of the world?" Terriermon agreed with them, rubbing his ears.

            "I'm with you," Jen agreed. "I want to stop this guy too!"

            They looked over at Ruki and Renamon, waiting for their responses. They smiled, simply saying, "Do you have to ask?" Zelda brimmed at everyone's enthusiasm.

            "Thank you! I-I am afraid… I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you all have come…" She took a step forward. "We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it! You all go find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does, and then defeat him!"

            "Yeah!" they all shouted.

            "One more thing…" Zelda started writing something up. "Take this letter… I'm sure it will be helpful to you." She handed the letter to Link. My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Don't be afraid to talk to her." Saying their farewells to Princess Zelda, the Tamers, Digimon, Link, and Navi, walked back towards where they had come from. Waiting there for them was a woman, who had her arms crossed. Her face had markings on it, while her hair was white, she wore black leather armor, complete with boots and gauntlets.

            'Huh?' Ruki thought when she saw her. 'Renamon must represent her.'

            "I am Impa of the Sheikahs," she told them once they had reached her. "I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. Everything is exactly as the Princess foretold. You are a courageous group… You are heading out on a big, new adventure, aren't you? My role in the Princess' dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song to Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby… There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen carefully… Memorize this song…" She raised two of her fingers up to her lips, so that she could whistle out the melody. It was a gentle and soothing sound; definitely a tune worthy of representing the Royal Family of Hyrule. She put her hand down, saying, "Now you try."

            "Huh? You mean whistle it out like you did?" Takato asked the Sheikah.

            "Wait, I think I have something even better," Link said, reaching into his tunic. He pulled out a small, potato-shaped instrument, which was a sort of peachy colour. "I'll try playing it on this," he replied to the others. He took the wind instrument into his hands, and brought the mouthpiece up to his lips. He slowly began to play the melody Impa had whistled. When he had finished, the peachy potato began to shimmer. Link and his friends gazed at it in wonder.

            "That song you just learned is called Zelda's Lullaby," Impa told them. She turned to look out the archway. "If the castle soldiers find you, there will be trouble. Let me lead you out of the castle."

***

            Once they were back in front the market entrance, Impa said, "You brave children…" Terriermon coughed. "and…"

            "Digimon," Jen completed for her. He shook Terriermon a bit on his shoulder, to show his disapproval for his cough. 

            "Digimon. Thank you. We must protect this beautiful Land of Hyrule!" She turned to face something. "Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire. At the foot of Death Mountain you will find my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain." She gazed back at he group. "The song I just taught you has some mysterious power. Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn that song. Remember, it will help to prove your connection with the Royal Family. The Princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones. All right. We're counting on you!" 

            "We understand," Link said on behalf of them all. Impa nodded. At that moment, she unfolded her arms and stepped back on her right leg. She raised her arm up, then brought it back down, throwing something at the ground. A puff of smoke surrounded her, and she was gone, leaving the destined group surprised.

                                                                                                                     *  
                                                                                                                   *    *  
                                                                                                                 ******  
                                                                                                               *            *  
                                                                                                             *   *       *    *  
                                                                                                           ******  ******

                                                                                                             THE TRIFORCE

Me: Ah, the end of the second chapter. Not sure when we'll start the next chapter though. School takes a lot of time up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Speaking of reviews, R&R! No flames, just suggestions, thanks! ^_^

Espeon: HA HA HA!! I think this chap is FUNNY!!! Don't you?

Me: Bacause of Terriermon?

Espeon: DUHH!! He is HALLARIOUS!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

Me: Uh…huh…

Espeon: How rude…^,^ See if I help you ^,~*

Me:  I mean, he's HILARIOUS!

Espeon: HEY!!...I spelled hilarious WRONG!!!

Me: Yeah, I noticed that too… BWA HA HA!

Espeon: .\/. WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!!!

Me: I was going to, but then I forgot about it. ^ ^  
Espeon: Don't give me that fart!!!! "I forgot"

Me: I did though, and don't say that word on the internet.

Espeon: What?

Me: Nevermind… there is spell check you know 

Espeon: Spell check? Ppppppppp Spell check is STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: It would have found your error though.

Espeon: Mun! Whatever…

Me: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Speaking of reviews, R&R! No flames, just suggestions, thanks! ^_^   
  



	3. Kakariko Village

Tsubaki: MUH HA HA! Now I have my own account, so now I'll put Tsubaki for short. It's hacker-tsubaki. It's new so there's nothing there.

Tsubasa: Yeah, whatever… I was the one who made the account for you. Anyways, very sorry for the long wait. A story like this takes a while, you know? Having to play the game and all… I didn't even know if there were that many people reading it. (Counts eight reviews.) Well anyways, here you go!

Disclaimer: "Digimon" belongs to Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei, Disney, etc.

"The Legend of Zelda" is property of Nintendo (smiles)

**The Tamers of Time**

Chapter 3: Kakariko Village

Everyone started walking in the direction Impa pointed out to them. As they crossed the bridge…

"Terriermon, get down off the bridge railing. You're going to fall in the water," said Jen.

"Oh, come on Jen. I've done this practically a thousand times. How could I possibly – WAH!" Terriermon fell right into the river, swam to a nearby ledge, and shoke off the water in his fur. Terriermon turned around and looked at Jen. "Don't say it, Jen."

They walked over to a sign which read, 'Kakariko Village Death Mountain Trail Starting Point.' The sign was pointing up the stairs in front of them. Without delay they went up the stairs, to find a soldier standing on the left side of an archway. They went up to the soldier, hoping that he would be able to tell them some information about Kakariko Village.

"Excuse me," said Link.

"Ding dong, ding dong! I'm a clock soldier of Kakariko! The current time is --:-- Hello there son. Zelda's attendant, the great Impa, opened this village to the common people. We have only a small population now, but someday this place will be as lively as Hyrule Castle Town! It will! Climb up the stairs at the north end of the village to find the trail that leads up to Death Mountain. But you need the King's permission to actually go up the mountain," said the guard.

Terriermon covered his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing. 'Ding dong?!' he thought to himself. 'What person in their right mind would say something like that?' Terriermon started to lose his balance, causing him to fall over. Jen stuck his arms behind his back to catch Terriermon. Terriermon landed on Jen's arms still covering his mouth. Ruki glared at them both.

"Um, thank you," said Link, aware of what was happening between his friends.

Terriermon climbed up back onto Jen's shoulder. They walked into the town, a safe distance away from the soldier.

"Terriermon," scolded Jen.

"Heh heh heh," said Terriermon nervously. "Sorry about that, but it was toooooo funny."

"Jeez," muttered Ruki. "You guys are so troublesome."

"Boc boc boc," clucked what they thought to be a chicken, walking past Takato's legs.

"Wha?" spluttered Takato, confused. "What's a chicken doing here?"

"Who cares?" said Ruki, crossing her arms. "It's a village, isn't it? So there's bound to be a few animals around."

"Oh…" said Takato, backing away from it. "Right…"

"Of course I am," said Ruki, staring at it, as it hopped around everywhere.

"Hello, birdie," greeted Guilmon, facing the chicken snout to beck.

"BOCOC!!!!!" screamed the chicken in terror. It ran as far away as it could.

"Uh…" Guilmon trailed off, a bit confused.

Takato laughed. As they watched the chicken run for its life, they saw a man with his arms crossed wearing a blue shirt and yellow shorts with black strips on them. He was standing under a tree with five bushes around it, rolling his head and yelling. They walked up to him.

"Is something wrong, sir?" asked Takato.

"Kyahh! I am the boss of the carpenters that Impa hired to improve this village and make it into a true city! But young men these days don't have any ambition… Do you know what I mean, kid? My workers are just running aimlessly around the village, and they're not making any progress at all… Even my own son doesn't have a job, and he just wanders around all day! They're all worthless, I tell you!!" exclaimed the man angrily.

"You shouldn't say something like that about your son," protested Takato.

"I can say what ever I want, kid," spat the carpenter.

"Come on, Takato," Jen said, grabbing his arm. "Don't fight with him, it's pointless."

"I suppose…" Takato mused half-heartedly as they moved on. "What kind of way is that to talk about your own son though?" Takato asked out loud.

"I guess some of these people are just bad tempered," said Navi, poking out of Link's hat.

"Look," said Renamon, pointing to a man running on the top of an unfinished building. "It must be one of the workers."

The worker was wearing a blue shirt like their boss, a white cloth wrapped around his waist like a belt, and light blue shorts. They walked up to a pile of bricks, Takato volunteered to climb up them to talk with the man.

"Excuse me, sir," Takato started off with. "Are you a carpenter worker?"

The man stopped running, and nodded. He used his arm to wipe the sweat off his face. "All day long, we are working on many construction projects in the village. It's going to take awhile before everything is done. Our boss works us very hard!" said the man tiredly.

He stared at a girl next to a pen, wearing a bluish green dress with swirls on the bottom of it, a red brownish vest with buttons, a white shirt under the vest, and a white cloth around her waist. "Look at that poor girl over there. She works so hard taking care of her chickens, even though touching them gives her goose bumps… What a trooper! I would really like to help her! I've just been feeling so charitable these days! Don't you feel that way, too?" he asked the goggled Tamer.

Before Takato could say anything, the worker started running again. Startled, Takato jumped down from the bricks before he could run him off.

"Do you think we should help that girl he was talking about?" Takato asked the others.

"Why not?" replied Jen. "Maybe she can tell us some useful information."

They walked up to the girl, who seemed to be quite distracted with something. When she saw the group heading towards her, she began talking to them as soon as they were close enough. "What should I do? My Cuccos have all flown away! You, little children, please! Please help me bring them back to this pen!" pleaded the girl.

"Oh, so they're called Cuccos here, not chickens," Jen said aloud to the others.

"Oh, so that explains the chicken – uh – I mean Cucco we saw earlier," said Terriermon.

"Um, okay, Miss," said Takato. "We'll help you."

"What do you mean we?" Ruki frowned. "I'm not exactly dressed for running around in case you've forgotten."

"Oh, um… okay, then…" said Takato, sweat dropping. "You can stay here and wait if you prefer."

Ruki sighed in aggravation. "I don't prefer it, but it's not like I have any choice – this dress is too long…" So, they all split up – except for Ruki. She sat down at the pen with Renamon and the girl, waiting for the others to come back.

Takato

Takato went back to find the Cucco they saw before.

"Where's that Cucco?" Takato thought aloud to himself.

"Boc boc boc," clucked the Cucco as it walked behind Takato.

"Eh? Oh, there it is! Come back here, Cucco!"

Guilmon

Guilmon saw a Cucco near a house, but there was a gate blocking the way to get it. So Guilmon decided to climb up the ledge to reach it.

"Cucco?" said Guilmon, climbing up the ledge.

The Cucco took one look at Gulimon, and…

"BOCOC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the Cucco, and ran like the wind.

Guilmon plopped down on the floor, and chased after it. "Wait, Cucco!"

Jen

Jen walked up some stairs, and saw a Cucco near a metal gate.

"Oh, there's one," Jen said at his discovery.

"Hey, you," said a guard at the gate.

"Huh? Me?" asked Jen.

"Yeah, you!" exclaimed the guard. "Why do you dress like the evil one?"

'Oh, boy,' Jen thought to himself. 'Looks like I have some explaining to do.'

Terriermon

Terriermon thought he heard some clucking noise in front of a house with a crate in front of it, with two crates at the side.

"There's clucking, but there's no Cucco," said Terriermon annoyed. "What, is this place haunted by a phantom Cucco, or something? Jeez!" Terriermon walked closer to the crate in front of the house. "I swear I could hear a Cucco right next to me." He hopped on the crate to get a better look around. "This is really getting on my nerves!" With that frustration, Terriermon whammed both of his ears against to crate's top. 'Boom!' The crate broke into a bunch of pieces, the cucco appearing in the middle of the wreckage. "Woah!" Terriermon fell right on top of the cucco. "Wow… I knew it was in there all the time." Terriermon grabbed the cucco with his ears, lifting it up in the air.

"Boc boc boc!" squawked the cucco.

Terriermon walked proudly carrying his cucco to the pen. Just then another cucco passed by Terriermon.

"Huh?" Terriermon turned his head to the left were the cucco went. "Was that a -"

WHAM! Something or someone bumped right into Terriermon, causing the floppy-eared Digimon to lose his catch. Terriermon tumbled to the floor.

"Wha?" said Terriermon confused, since it felt like he was holding nothing. "…AHHH! I LOST MY CUCOO!" cried Terriermon in terror. He got back up to see that Guilmon was in front of him, flat on his back. "Guilmon?_ You_ bumped into me?" Gulmon sat up.

"Oh, sorry, Terriermon," Guilmon apologized, rubbing his head. "Me chasing birdie."

"Oh, well, you made me lose my Cucco," said Terriermon, looking around.

"Sorry," said Guilmon ashamedly.

"Ah, don't worry about it. More fun for me," said Terriermon with a smile. Terriermon looked around. "There it is!" Terriermon brushed himself off with his ears. "See ya, Guilmon. Hope you catch that Cucco of yours, before you bump into anyone else." Terriermon then dashed off to get his cucco. "Come back here!" he shouted as he jumped to grab the cucco. It ran to one side, causing Terriermon to miss, and fall face-first. Guilmon, still sitting on the floor, watched Terriermon.

"Boc boc boc," clucked the cucco, walking past Guilmon.

"Huh?" Guilmon turned his head toward the sound of the noise. "Birdie!" Guilmon got back up. The cucco turned towards Guilmon to see him charging after it.

"BOCOC!!!!!" it squawked in total horror, and it began to run for it's life.

Link

Link walked up some stairs that was near the pen. When he went up them, there was crate and a door on the right of the pathway going straight. He kept walking.

"Navi, do you see anything?" he asked looking around.

"I can see you're going to fall if you keep walking."

"Huh? Ah!" Link fell, grabbing onto the ledge with one hand. He sighed in relief, and climbed back up. "Couldn't you have had told me a bit sooner, Navi?"

"Well, it was too late. Look over there," Navi flew to a big wooden gate. "There's a Cucoo here." Link got up back on his feet, and turned to where Navi was.

"How do you expect me to get over there?"

Navi flew back to Link's side. Just then she spotted Guilmon chasing a cucoo. She watched the cucoo flap its wings. "That's it!" she exclaimed.

"What's it?" asked Link.

"Hmm… but we'll need a Cucco."

"What for?"

"In you go," said a voice from below.

"Hm?" Link looked down to see Ruki tossing a cucco into the pen. Link ran down the stairs. "Ruki, you caught one?"

Ruki patted her hands. "Actually, it just came over here towards me," she stated plainly. "It was over there." Ruki pointed to some bushes.

"Everyone seemed to have missed it because it was hiding in the bushes," Renamon pointed out.

Link glanced around. "Where's that girl from before?"

"She said she had to go do some other chores," answered Renamon.

"Um, Ruki," Navi spoke up. "Do you think we can borrow that Cucco?"

"I suppose; as long as you bring it back. But what for?"

"Yeah," Link looked at Navi. "You still haven't told me what your plan is, Navi."

"Oh, yeah," said Navi. "Okay, then… What we're going to do is that you're going to hold this Cucco, and jump across. As you cross, the Cucco will keep your weight up, and you should be able to reach the other side."

Ruki, Link, and Renamon looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, 'should'?" said Link, worried and shocked at the same time.

"I knew you would freak out, but don't worry – I have a backup plan," stated Navi proudly.

"What might that be?" asked Link, still worried.

"……… I haven't figured that out yet."

Link looked extremely stunned. "W-what do you mean you haven't figured that out yet?!" he spluttered.

"Don't worry," said Navi casually. "Those Cucco's flap their wings, so you should be fine. They flap so fast when you hold them, their feathers fly off."

"I hope you're right," said Link nervously. He climbed over the pen and picked up the cucco. It squawked like crazy, and as Navi said, there were feathers were flying everywhere. He lifted it up over his head. All four walked up the stairs, and to the end of the path.

"This Cucco is REALLY noisy," Ruki observed, covering her ears. "And there are probably enough feathers to make a pillow from all the feathers flying off it."

"Okay, ready?" Navi asked.

Link took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Alright," said Navi, flying across to the other side. "Go!"

With that, Link jumped off, and the cucco flapped its wings like mad. It was descending slowly, so once Link reached the gate, he let go of the cucco to grab onto the top of the gate. Ruki decided to catch the fallen cucco before it ran off somewhere. She jumped down with her legs bent, because she was wearing a dress and all. When her feet touched the ground she dashed and grabbed it before it could move.

"Wow," Ruki said in a surprised tome. "That was easier than I thought."

"Wow!" exclaimed Navi. "You're good, Ruki."

The Tamer smirked. "Renamon?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think you could put this in the pen for me? I have an idea to get the other Cucco in the pen." She handed Renamon the Cucco in her hands. "Link will throw the Cucco down, I'll catch it, give it to you, and you put it in the pen. That way we all have a part to play."

"Sounds good to me," Link called from behind the gate.

"Wow – That's a good plan," Navi commented.

"Thanks," said Ruki, smirking.

"Alright," agreed Renamon, taking the freaked out cucco back to the pen.

"Okay, time to get that Cucco," Navi announced decidely. Link stealthily creeped up behind the Cucco he was after, and grabbed it quickly. He took the cucco up some stairs, and threw the bird down to Ruki.

"Okay, go back to the pen," Link called down to her. "We'll meet up there."

"Right," Ruki nodded. She ran off to meet up with Renamon. As Link ran down the stairs, he wasn't really looking were he was going, and…

"Ah!" he fell down a hole. Navi followed him into its depths.

"You should really look where you're going," Navi said aloofly to him.

"You could've warned me," Link retorted as he rubbed his head.

"Like before, it was too late."

The young boy sighed and looked around. There were small puddles of water on the floor, which Link mentally thanked he didn't land in. There were also some bushes, these two weird brown things hanging from the ceiling which looked like hives, and some kind of weird-looking stone. At the far end there was also a small treasure chest.

"This is a pretty weird place," Navi commented as she looked around. "We should go though. Ruki and the others are probably waiting."

"Okay, let's go," Link agreed, though somewhat reluctantly. He spotted a platform beneath the hole opening. Link decided to step onto it. The result was a bright light shining down, engulfing both him and Navi. The next thing he knew, he was jumping out of the hole.

Not taking too much time to ponder over what just happened, he spotted a nearby ladder against a wall. "We'll get out of here that way." He carefully walked around the hole and ran up to it. As he climbed the ladder, Navi flew all the way to the top and waited for Link to catch up. When he finally reached the top, he heard clucking.

"Huh?" Link blinked. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is," confirmed Navi. They both looked up, and the saw a cucco hopping around.

Navi watched it hop around. "I don't want to know how it got up here."

Link thought for a moment. "Hmm… We could use that Cucco." Link walked over and picked it up. "Let's go, Navi."

"Hmm?" Navi wondered. "What _are_ you planning...?" Then it came to her. "Oh… I think I know." Link smiled, running to the far side of the path, and with that he jumped off. The ledge was facing the pen, so he just had to fly straight. Ruki saw him floating down, surprising her. Once Link landed, he threw the cucco into the pen.

"What was that all about?" asked Ruki.

"We found another Cucco, so I decided to bring it to the pen," Link explained.

"Hmm…" Ruki folded her arms. "Funny place to find one."

"We should wait here for the others," Renamon decided.

Ruki agreed with her partner. "Yeah, they'll have to come here eventually."

"Hey, guys!" At that moment, Takato came running with a cucco in his arms.

"Took you long enough," Ruki scoffed.

"Well, the Cucco kept running away," Takato said in defensive of himself, placing the cucco in the pen.

"Chaaaarrrrrrgggeeee!" shouted a familiar voice. They all turned to see Terriermon, running with a cucco being held in his ears; a rather large trail of dust following behind him. "Incoming!" Everyone quickly stepped out the way, Terriermon sliding as he tossed the cucco in the pen.

"Score one for Terriermon!" Terriermon cheered.

"Uh…" Takato coughed, blowing away the dust with his hand. "Very nice, Terriermon."

"Isn't it?" Terriermon beamed.

"Jeez," said another familiar voice.

"Jen!" cried Terriermon, running towards him. "You should have seen me throw my cucco in the pen." Terriermon jumped on his Tamer's head. "You seem worn out, Jen. Something happen?" Terriermon bent down his head, so that his face was in front of the boy's.

"Yeah," said Jen exasperatedly. "A guard saw me and thought I looked suspicious, so I had to make something up." Terriermon stood back up.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Terriermon. "That's pretty funny."

Jen looked up. "Terriermon!"

"In a bad way I mean… Anyways besides that, you have a Cucco. So what are you waiting for? Put the Cucco in before the squawking drives me coocoo!" Terrriermon said, tying his ears around his head.

"Oh, right." Jen walked over to the pen and put his cucco in.

"Phew! Finally." Terriermon untied his ears.

"Wait, birdie!"

"Uh, oh." Terriermon slowly turned his head. "That's not what I think it is, it?" There in his sights he saw Guilmon, still chasing the cucco at full speed. "Ah! Guilmon, watch were you're-"

BOOM! Guilmon ran through the group, causing everyone to fall over.

"AUGH!" they all shouted.

"Guilmon, stop!" called Takato. Guilmon stopped, and so did the cucco. Guilmon saw this, so took the opportunity to grab it.

"Look, Takato!" Guilmon showed the cucco to him. "I caught the birdie!"

"Yes, very nice, Guilmon," Takato said weakly, still sitting on the floor. "Now, put it in the pen."

"Okay!" Guilmon went and did as he was told.

"Do you think that's all of them?" asked Jen, getting up.

"I hope so," said Ruki, brushing off the dirt on her clothes. "I don't want to get run over again."

"Sorry," said Guilmon, helping Takato up.

"Oh, hello again," came a female voice from behind. It was the girl that had asked them to help her. She turned to the pen to see it full of cuccos. She started counting each one.

"Did we get all of them?" Takato asked hopefully.

The girl nodded with a smile. "Yes. Thank you for finding my Cuccos. I have allergies, so I get goose bumps when I though them. For helping me, I will give this to you. It's fine glass, and should be useful. Please take good care of it!" She brought out a bottle and handed it to Jen.

"Thank you," Jen bowed slightly.

"You're welcome!"

"Who should get the bottle?" asked Terriermon as they headed back to the village entrance.

"Well…" Takato glanced upwards. "I think Link should get it."

"Me?" Link sounded surprised.

"Yeah," agreed Ruki. "We're just helping, aren't we? So it's rightfully yours." The others nodded.

"Well, okay then… if you're sure." Jen handed the bottle to him before speaking.

"I think we should go visit some houses. Maybe the people in this village could tell us some information."

They all decided to go with the idea. They went up some stairs that was on a path near the pen. When they reached the top, there were three pots and a guard. They decided to talk to the guard.

Seeing the group, he started talking. "This used to be the great Impa's house, but she doesn't live here any longer. It is now open to all villagers. You are free to go in. This village used to be a Shiekah village, but the great Impa opened it to everyone."

So, they went ahead into the house. Inside were a man, a cow, some furniture, and a heart piece.

"Hey!" the man suddenly shouted at them. "Do you always enter other people's houses without permission? Didn't you learn any manners?"

"Huh?" Takato blinked. "But, the guard outside said this house was open to all villagers."

"Hmm?" the man squinted at them. "You don't look like you're from around here."

"Oh, uh… well…" Takato raked his mind for something to say.

"Oh well." The man decided to dismiss the whole situation. "Did you see a lady behind this house? She's going through a hard time. Oh well. If that lady asks you about chickens, you should listen to her."

Terriermon frowned. 'Who does this person think he is?!' he thought to himself. 'These people can be so rude!' They left before the man got any madder.

"Well, that was pretty much useless," Ruki sighed.

"Where to now?" Takato wondered.

"Oh, let's go to the dark place!" Guilmon piped up.

"Eh?" Takato looked at his Digimon. "The… dark place?" Takato didn't like the sound of that.

"It's where I found my Cucco!" Guilmon said proudly.

"Er…" Takato was still feeling hesitant.

"We might as well," Navi said. "Show us the way, Guilmon."

"Okay!" the digi-dino beamed as he headed off. Link and the others followed suit.

"Eh?" Takato blinked. "But… er…"

Ruki walked past him. "Come on, fearless leader."

"Uh…" Takato hung his head. "Mm…"

The door creaked as Jen opened the door to the house. Peeking inside, it certainly was quite spooky, not to mention old-looking. There was nothing inside but some pieces of wood, support beams that held the house up, and an oddly strange amount of spider webs.

"This place gives me the creeps," Takato shivered.

"Same," said Jen. They walked farther in.

"Oh, come on guys," Terriermon said light-heartedly, walking in front of them. "What could possibly happen?" Terriermon turned to face them, walking backwards. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Just then, they heard a strange noise. Some kind of scratching sound came from behind Terriermon. Everyone stopped in shock, and Terriermon turned around. He saw a giant spider right in front of his face.

"… AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Terriermon screamed, falling back on his behind.

This set off a chain reaction to all the others. They shouted loudly as the oversized spider hung from the ceiling, legs vibrating from its skull-like body. The whole room was filled with yelps, including from the spider who was surprised by their outburst.

"AHHhhh… Huh?" Takato blinked. "Spiders can… yell?"

The others stopped their noisemaking at Takato's comment. Terriermon got up from the floor, running back to the group and hiding behind Jen's right leg. Taking a closer look, they noticed that the spider had a half human face. They could also make out human eyes and hair. One of the spider's legs was also a human arm.

"Why do you… look part human?" Link cautiously asked the spider.

The spider took a breather from its yelling before explaining itself. "We all look like this because of the spider's curse."

"All?" Jen repeated. "You mean there are more like you?"

"My family members," the spider replied miserably. "If every Spider of the Curse in the entire world were destroyed, the curse would be broken."

"A curse…" Navi considered the situation.

Ruki frowned. "How terrible."

"Indeed," Renamon nodded.

"In the whole entire world?" Takato's eyes widened. "That's a lot of spiders crawling around," he said meekly.

Link furrowed his brows. "We'll help you!"

"Eh?" the others looked round at him.

"Uh – sorry." Link apologized. "I didn't ask you guys first."

Jen smiled. "Don't worry about that."

"Y-yeah!" Takato made a fist. "We can do it!"

"You don't sound very sure of yourself," Ruki observed, to which Takato faltered.

"Aw, more work?" Terriermon whined, but Renamon booted him in the head.

"You will? Oh thank you!" the spider replied gratefully. "When you destroy a Spider of the Curse, a token will appear. Collect it as part of your achievement. Look for them not only out in the open, but also inside dungeons. Of course, this is just our dream… You don't have to do it if you don't want to…"

"Oh, thanks…" Terrirmon started.

"If you break the curse on my family, we will make you very rich…" the spider added.

"… but we'll still help you nonetheless!" the dog/bunny-digimon stated boldly. Jen glanced at his Digimon, wondering when he it was he became so money-crazed.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until we come across one of those spiders he's talking about to help these guys," said Takato.

They left the house only to enter another one soon after. It was the one where Terriermon found his cucco. It was an ordinary house, filled with furniture, and stuff like that. There was also someone cooking at the stove. The person wore a very dark brown dress, with white designs on it, and a pink and red shirt. This villager had brown hair in two buns, one on either side of the head, and beard.

The person turned around as they came in. "Hi, kids! Is this the first time you've visited this village? A great woman, Impa, opened this village to us poor folk. Well, make yourself at home. The food isn't ready yet, though."

"Wow," said Terriermon. "We could stay here for the night."

"Yeah," Jen concurred, "but let's keep exploring the town."

Going outside, Navi mentioned, "Hey, I remember seeing a door up over there when Link and I went to get a Cucco." She flew towards the direction she was talking about. "We should check it out."

Navi lead the way. When they went inside, they found themselves in a large circular room with a large turbine in the middle of it. There were support beams, and a stone structure off to its sides.

An organ-grinder was standing at the northwest part of the room. The instrument had a long tube connected to it, and at the end was a horn that spun around and around in the air. There was also a brown box around a part of the tube. The tube was in between the man's legs, and went upwards, so it was on the man's back. The man was balding, having hair on half of the back of his head. He also had sideburns and a beard. His hair was of a brown colour. The man wore a teal and white shirt, with blue shorts. He smiled with his eyes closed in sort of an odd way. They went up to speak to him.

"Um, excuse me," Links started.

"Go around! Go around and around and around! What fun! I'm so happy! I'm a music man who loves to go around and around! Go around and around!!! I'm trying to come up with a musical theme inspired by this windmill… going around and around and around!!!" chorused the man.

"Uh…" Link was befuddled.

"I think we should go," Navi whispered in Link's ear.

Seeing his strange behaviour, everyone thought that that would be best. So, they left, Terriermon of course having to put in his two cents.

"I think that guy has lost his marbles."

"Terriermon," Jen said sternly. "Don't be so rude."

"Fine," Terriermon pouted. Navi and Link were confused at Terriermon's statement, but they didn't bother asking.

"I liked the music," Guilmon chimed, beginning to hum out the tune.

Takato looked at his partner with a weak grin. "If you say so."

As they went down the stairs they saw a sign nearby a doorway with three bushes next to it. It read 'Kakariko Village Graveyard'.

"A graveyard?" Takato sounded slightly alarmed. "Do you… think we can really find anything out there?"

"Possibly," Jen replied. "We should at least try, shouldn't we?"

Takato shifted his eyes. "Um…"

"If we're going, let's hop to it." Navi bumped into Takato, pushing him forward.

"Huh?" Takato glanced back.

"What, are you afraid there'll be ghosts there?" Terriermon joked. "Ghosts aren't real," the Digimon laughed. "…right?"

* * *

Tsubasa: So, we'll just leave it there for now. Tsubaki is getting lazy (ha, I can say this because she isn't here and it's true) and doesn't want to play the game, so I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Maybe… next year? In the summer? Probably. Heh.

Until next time! Ja!


	4. The Sun's Song

Me: So this fic did end up being updated in the summer.

Tsubaki: Yeah, a YEAR later.Plus it's kinda DULL! T-T Can't help it… (cry) Had to make some parts up too…

Me: Eh.

This chapter is dedicated to digimaniac-falkor3, our most loyal reader and reviewer. If it wasn't for you, this fic wouldn't still be going.

Tsubaki: It would still be going…about 1 chap every million years! But, yeah. Thanks for the kick in the shin - …IT'S NOT MY FAULT IT TOOK SO LONG Q.Q DON'T KILL ME! (runs away from computer screaming…)

Me: Uh-huh… Anyway, one more thing I should mention – for the Digimon's attacks, I used the Japanese names. Unless I have no idea what they are in Japanese, I'll switch to the English ones.

A special thanks also goes out to israellac and Ancient for taking an interest in this fanfic.

Tsubaki: AKA, thank you, everyone .

Disclaimer: "Digimon" and "The Legend of Zelda" are properties of their respective owners.

**The Tamers of Time**

Chapter 4: The Sun's Song

As they entered the clearing in front of the graveyard, they saw a sign, some bushes, and a rock off to the right-hand side of the archway leading into the gravesite. Beyond the archway was a giant gravestone and fencing. The sign read:

Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour! From 18:00 to 21:00 Hyrule Time -- Dampé the Gravekeeper.

"Wonder what that's all about," said Terriermon, reading over the sign again.

The sign just bewildered Takato. "Why would someone want to take a tour of a graveyard?"

"They must have their reasons," Jen decided. "Maybe it's to honour those who passed away?"

Link shook his head. "I have no idea."

"Let's just keep going then," Navi pressed.

They walked over to the immense gravestone at the front of the cemetery. Engraved into the headstone was:

R.I.P.  
Here lies the souls of those  
Who swore fealty to the  
Royal Family of Hyrule. The Sheikah, guardians of the  
Royal Family and founders of  
Kakariko, watch over these spirits  
In their eternal slumber.

"What does 'fealty' mean?" Takato furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar word.

"I think it's like loyalty," Jen told him. "Swearing loyalty to the Royal Family of Hyrule."

"Oh, right." Takato wavered upon the fact that he probably should have been able to figure that out by the wording.

The group proceeded up a stone path that occasionally had patches of dirt amongst it. Heading left, Guilmon spotted three yellow butterflies with black markings on them.

"Takato, look at the pretty butterflies!" exclaimed Guilmon, running toward the fluttering insects. Takato turned to see Guilmon not paying attention to where he was going.

"Guilmon, watch out for that gravestone!" His warning came too late however. Guilmon tripped over the gravestone, falling to the ground. Takato ran up to Guilmon to see if he was okay, the others joining him.

"Guilmon, are you all right?"

The Digimon shot up, still gazing up at the butterflies. "See, Takato? Pretty butterflies!"

Takato sighed and sat next to Guilmon, gazing up at the butterflies as well. The grave had three yellow flowers in front of it, with red tipped petals, and spiky leaves.

Renamon took a brief study of the tombstone. "This grave is the only one that has flowers in front of it. The butterflies seem to only fly around this particular grave as well."

"Maybe there's something different about it?" Ruki suggested.

"What's so different about it?" retorted Terriermon. "Maybe someone in the village knows this person, and planted flowers in front of the grave for them. All butterflies like flowers, so that's why they only fly around this grave."

"That could be a possibility," said Jen, "but you never know. Perhaps there's a certain something special about it?"

"All right then." Terriermon grabbed on to the back of the gravestone with his ears. "Let's just see how different it really is." He started pulling on the grave, and it in turn budged.

"Terriermon, no!" Jen cried, taking hold of Terriermon. Terriermon held on harder as Jen tried to pry him off.

"Don't cause trouble!" someone shouted.

Both Jen and Terriermon stopped, turning to see a young boy standing in front of them. He had a tuft of light brown hair and a stick in hand. The youth wore blue shorts, a white shirt with blue trim pattern, and light brown shoes.

"A boy?" Ruki stared at him.

Takato wondered, "What's he doing in a graveyard?"

"I'll tell Dampé!" the boy threatened. The Tamer-Digimon pair let go of their grasp.

"I was just trying to prove a theory," Terriermon defended. "We're not causing any trouble."

The boy tilted his head away. "Yeah, whatever."

Terriermon frowned. "What's with that attitude?"

"There's no point in starting an argument with him," Jen told his partner. "If we do want to move this grave, this Dampé person should be supervising." Terriermon pouted and hopped on his shoulder. "May I ask what you're doing here?" Jen asked the boy.

The child stared at him for a moment. "Little kids can't go on the 'Heat-Pounding Gravedigging Tour' described on the sign. Since I can't do that, I'm just imitating Dampé the gravekeeper all day. But with my cute face, I'm not heart-pounding at all, am I?

"Cute face?" whispered Terriermon behind Jen's head. "Yeah, right."

Jen coughed to cover up what Terriermon was saying. "Well, alright. Thanks. Don't worry, we won't cause anymore trouble."

"Yeah, okay." The boy left them with that, limping off and swinging his stick.

They continued onward, following the stone path. About two thirds of the way up however, it began to rain. Everyone looked up at the sky.

"That's weird," said Link. "The weather changed so quickly."

"Link, look." Navi flew toward a Triforce mark made of grass in a patch of dirt. Walking up the rest of the way to the top, they found two tombstones at opposite ends, a monument between them in the background. The monument read:

Royal Family's Tomb  
The crest of the Royal Family of Hyrule is inscribed here.

"Hey, look at this." Guilmon was staring at the gravestone to the left. It read:

Royal Composer Bros.  
Sharp the Elder  
R.I.P.

Emblazoned on the grave was a sun with wings. At the sides was writing, while the Triforce was situated at the bottom.

Renamon was examining the grave to the right. "There's another here." Engraved upon it was:

Royal Composer Bros.  
Flat the Younger  
R.I.P.

Instead of a sun, this one had a crescent moon with wings, but was otherwise similar to its counterpart.

Suddenly, what seemed like a ghost each appeared before Guilmon and Renamon. The two spirits spun around and cackled. Guilmon fell back from surprise, staring up at the ghost blankly, tilting his head. Renamon on the other hand jumped back and went into fighting stance.

The ghost that appeared in front of Guilmon was black in colour, fat, had pudgy light green eyes, a Triforce belt buckle, curly blond hair, a moustache, and a spike coming out from its left hand. In his other hand was a fancy lantern, and upon his head sat a large patterned hat with a sun mark in the middle. Its choice of clothing was a kind of red shawl, and a tattered tunic which was also patterned.

Renamon's phantom looked like the other one, except it was thin, had tall green eyes, and hair down to its neck which curved as well as a moustache. It was donned with a green shawl, and a grey patterned tunic, while his tall grey patterned hat displayed a crescent moon.

"AHHHH!" Takato wailed, startling the others. "GHOSTS!"

"Would you get a grip!" Ruki scolded exasperatedly.

"They're not ghosts specifically," Navi clarified. "They're Poes."

"P-Poes?" Takato stuttered.

"Takato, are you okay?" Jen looked at his quivering friend. "Just pretend they're Phantomon or something."

"Uh…huh…" the goggled Tamer replied weakly.

Guilmon's ethereal opponent's eyes turned red, starting to spin its lantern. It charged at Guilmon, the dino narrowing his eyes, and crossing his arms into an X to defend himself. The ghoul bounced back.

"Poe of the graveyard?" Navi thought out loud. "They must be the ghosts of the graves."

Link pointed from the Poe on the left to the one on the right. "So that's Sharp and that's Flat?"

Navi bobbed though the air. "Exactly."

Flat attacked Renamon, but she jumped out of the way and let out a "Koyousetsu!" Flat conversely laughed and spun around, disappearing from sight before the shards could strike him.

"What?" Renamon landed back on the ground.

Navi once again acted as the encyclopedia. "They have the ability to turn transparent. But you can still see the lantern they carry, so that's where they are."

"Of course." Renamon watched as the lantern hovered about, waiting in anticipation for Flat to reappear. As soon as he did, Renamon slashed it in the back with a well-placed chop. The Poe screamed, backing away from the kitsune.

Guilmon was having a little more trouble with Sharp; he kept hiding in the wall. The Digimon decided to hide behind the right side of his gravestone to lure him out. Just as expected, Sharp emerged from hiding. Guilmon blasted Sharp with a Fireball, the Poe screaming and in turn disappearing. Guilmon chased after Sharp in the direction he disappeared to, Terriermon jumping off Jen's shoulder to help him.

Terriermon conceal himself behind the back of Sharp's gravestone and lingered there, staring out from behind. Sharp laughed and reappeared behind Terriermon. The Poe's eyes transformed from green to red, swinging it's lantern around to charge at Terriermon.

"Terriermon! Behind you!" Jen cried. Terriermon turned to see the Poe coming at straight for him. Link dashed towards Terriermon, drew his sword, and cut though the Poe. Sharp screamed, taking cover within the walls.

"Th-Thanks," Terriermon huffed, still stunned.

"No problem," Link replied, staring at the wall. "If we're going to work together, we should look out for one another," he grinned. Terriermon returned it weakly.

Renamon defeated Flat with ease. The Poe screamed once more as it was attacked, and burned into flames. Ruki ran up to Renamon's side, watching the flickering light.

"GYAAAAH! I'M DEAD AGAIN!" shrieked Flat. "… What? Somehow, you remind me of… Princess Zelda…"

"Yeah…" Ruki was getting tired of hearing this. "I've been getting that lately…"

"Hmm… Since you may have some connection with the Royal Family, I will tell you a little more of our tale. Back then, people called us the composers because of the many musical masterpieces we wrote. But we brothers were not just composers. We had a mission to analyze the mysterious powers of Hyrule's Royal Family. Our names should be a part of Hyrule's history if we could complete our research! We kept our study extremely secret until we completed it. To tell the truth, each of us was studying a different song, one to summon the sun and another to summon the moon."

Renamon considered this. "So that explains the sun and moon on their gravestones and hats."

"Mm…" Ruki agreed with this.

"If you were really sent by a member of the Royal Family, I will tell you about the results of our study," Flat added.

Link came to join Ruki and Renamon in listening to Flat's tale. "We were. We can assure you of that."

Flat coughed. "Well then… We inscribed it on the royal tombstone. As a messenger of the Royal Family, you should show your Royal credentials on top of the Triforce mark… Do you want to hear what I said again?"

"No thanks," Ruki answered. The flame of Flat laughed and vanished.

Terriermon was waiting impatiently for Sharp. "What is he doing in there!" he yelled. "Come out so we can knock your lights out, COWARD!" Terriermon breathed heavily, catching his breath.

"Terriermon," said Jen nervously. "Calm down." Terriermon sighed, sitting behind the back of Sharp's gravestone to lean against it.

Guilmon continued to watch the wall. "How do we get him to come out?"

"Navi," Link called. "Is there anything we can do to get Sharp out of the wall?" Navi flew to them.

"Well… no."

The three sighed. Unexpectedly, Sharp came out to see if they had gone away. Terriermon was the first to see Sharp and attacked with "Blazing Fire"! Link and Guilmon looked up to see Sharp smolder into a flame. They walked up to the glow.

"GYAAAAH! YOU KILLED ME…" Sharp hollered. "Unbelievable!" The Poe took another look at those around him. "Oh, what? You're not one of Ganondorf's men, are you? Because of my job as a ghost, I had to act like that. I apologize."

"That's okay," said Guilmon. He tried to pat the flame as comfort, but his hand went right through. "Yikes!"

"Guilmon, be careful!" Takato jogged up to his partner.

Sharp went on with his dialogue. "Now then, let me introduce myself. Ahem… I am one of the ghostly composer brothers of Kakariko Village. All the people in this village are born to serve the Royal Family, and were assigned to study the hereditary mystic graves of the family. Though we never could figure out the power of the Triforce we had completed our study of controlling time with the tones of ocarinas. Uh, I mean… Actually we did complete that study! We would have been famous if that hateful Ganondorf had not tried to steal our results. We could never let him reap the fruits of out research! That's why we gave our lives to protect the secret."

Terriermon swallowed. "You died so you could protect your research… now that's dedication."

"I'm not too sure I want to know how they died though," Takato gulped.

"Do you want to hear what I said again?"

"I see," said Link. "No thank you, I think we understand now."

"What was that all about?" Terriermon said blankly. With a cackle, Sharp's flame dissipated.

Jen had to reiterate what they heard in simpler terms. "I think he meant that there's a connection between time and the sounds ocarinas make."

Takato's eyes widened. "You mean we can use ocarinas to manipulate time?"

Jen nodded. "Yeah, exactly that. And remember when Princess Zelda said that the Royal Family had a treasure? She said it was The Ocarina of Time."

Link walked up to the Triforce symbol on the ground and stared at it. "Hmm… the Triforce."

"What is it Link?" Takato came to the boy's side.

"Oh, I was just wondering; the Triforce is a symbol of the Royal Family, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Link gazed down at the Triforce formed from grass. "I remember Impa saying something about the song she taught us having some mysterious power; and it will help to prove our connection with the Royal Family." Slowly, he took out his Fairy Ocarina and stared at it thoughtfully. "Do you think if I play it here, something will happen?"

"Only one way to find out," Ruki said from behind them.

Navi drifted over Link's head. "I say go for it, Link."

Nodding, the boy brought the ocarina to his mouth, replaying the melody Impa had taught him in his head. As he played it out, the others listened and watched for any signs of change. Link looked up when he finished the last note; apparently nothing had happened. Then suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down upon the monument beyond the Triforce, causing it to explode. Everyone went flying and shouting as the force knocked them backwards, chunks of the statue whizzing by. The smoke from the wreckage began to settle, visibility becoming somewhat improved.

"Jeeeeez," moaned Terriermon, hanging off one of the fences. "You'd think the brothers could have warned us."

"Ruki, are you all right?" Renamon had grabbed Ruki when the lightning hit, shielding her Tamer from the blast.

"Yeah…" The girl gazed up at her partner. "Thanks, Renamon."

Takato sat up and rubbed his head. "Ugh… Who would have thought a lullaby would result in something so dangerous?"

"Takato, lookie!" Guilmon was up and standing by the place where the statue had been. "It's a hole!"

"A hole?" Takato got up to see what his Digimon was talking about.

Jen was already over there, crouched over looking down the gap. "At least the monument exploding was able to reveal this."

"A square hole?" Link peered down to see if he could find where it lead.

"Guess it's time to go down there, then." Without waiting for a reply, Navi flew down the hole, leading the way for the others with her light.

Things were going fine as they each went down one by one – until Guilmon got stuck. Takato was still behind him, waiting for him to go down. So to try and aid in the process, he began pushing down on him.

"Gu-Guilmon," Takato strained, trying to shove Guilmon down. "Br-Breath in."

"O-kay." Guilmon did as he was instructed, and the result surprisingly worked well. It was so surprising in fact, that Takato fell right behind him.

"AHHHHHHHHHH," the Tamer screamed, right before he fell face-first onto the floor.

The others turned around to see that Guilmon had somehow landed on his feet, but then Takato crashed on top of him, causing both of them to fall flat on the floor.

"Ungh… thanks, Guilmon," Takato groaned, struggling to get up.

The Digimon merely replied, "Guilmon, squished," as he too attempted to get up. Ruki and Jen sighed. How did those two always manage to end up like that?

"Hurry up," said Ruki, putting her hands on her hips.

"Trying to," they replied in strangled voices.

Fed up, Ruki sighed again and started walking down the path, leaving the others behind as Renamon followed her.

In the conjoining room, there was water dripping down from the ceiling, forming puddles on the floor. Bones laid everywhere on the left and right side. At the other end was a locked door, with two unlit torches on either side of a big stone pillar with markings all over it. Leading up to the door were three ridiculously large steps. Renamon noticed some bats flying around the chamber, and a couple sitting near the torches.

By now the others had caught up with Ruki and Renamon. Takato looked nervous seeing all the bones scattered on the floor.

Ruki glanced at him. "I'll admit they're creepy, but don't get scared stiff."

"I-I'm not scared," replied Takato nervously.

"Sure." Ruki turned her attention back to the room. Takato sighed anxiously.

"There are so many bats around here," observed Jen.

More technically, Navi said, "They're actually called Keese."

"Yeah, well there are a lot of them," Terriermon agreed with Jen. He started grinning. "Let's each take one." He jumped off Jen's shoulder, scampering towards one of the Keese. "Blazing Fire!" He shot at it, causing the Keese to fall to the floor and vanish. All the bat-like creatures in turn reacted to the fight and took off after Terriermon.

Guilmon jumped up as high as he could and slashed at one of them. "Rock Breaker!"

Renamon meanwhile defeated two at once with a well-placed, "Koyousetsu!"

Link whipped out his Fairy Slingshot and loaded a deku seed. He aimed at one of the Keese and fired, knocking it into oblivion. All the Keese were gone, and the bars on the door retracted, unlocking it.

"Link," called Navi, who was flying over a pile of bones. "Look at this."

'Shine light on the living dead…'

"L-L-Living dead?" stammered Takato.

"You really are scared," said Ruki staring at him.

"Well, who wouldn't be?"

Ruki was looking at him with an expression he couldn't tell if it was annoyance or disbelief. She turned to face the wall. "… Stop being so scared."

Takato blinked. "Huh?"

"There's no point in being scared. You've gone through scarier things than this. What makes it any different?"

Takato stared in the distance and thought about what she said. He decided she was right.

"Thanks, Ruki." He smiled at her.

His unexpected gesture caused her to falter. Turning away slightly, she attempted to hide the blush daring to rise. "Whatever… just don't be scared anymore."

"Kay," he continued to grin.

Link and Jen stared at them. Navi bumped into Link's face, causing him to fall over, Jen looking away. The Tamer saw Terriermon staring at a skeleton lying against the wall.

"HEY, JEN!" Terriermon shouted. Jen ran up to Terriermon and covered his mouth.

"Shhhhh!" he hushed his Digimon.

Takato and Ruki came out of their daze and glanced over at Jen. He noticed this and let go of Terriermon, laughing weakly. Terriermon just stared at Jen, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Uh… okay…" Terriermon muttered, still confused. "Anyway, look at this." He pointed at the skeleton.

'Those who break into the Royal Tomb will be obstructed by the lurkers in the dark.'

"What both of these bones tell is related to the same topic," Renamon said thoughtfully.

"Hm…" Jen was lost in his own thought. "It's probably trying to tell us something important." He looked up abruptly. "The last one sounds like a warning."

Link walked up to him. "And the first one is the solution?"

"Sounds reasonable," Navi mused.

Jen looked worried. "But then the lurkers in the dark are… the living dead?"

"Takato!" cried Guilmon. Everyone turned to see Guilmon standing in front of the unlocked door. "Are we going through this door soon?"

"Yes, Guilmon," Takato said, sighing. "Wait for us first."

"Okay."

"Takato." Jen put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Be careful. I think there might be something up ahead waiting for us."

"Uh – O-Okay…"

Once they climbed the three stairs, they went through the door. They all froze once they heard moaning.

Ruki was the first to voice everyone's thought. "What's that?"

"It must be what the bones were describing," Jen figured darkly.

"Everyone, be careful," Renamon warned.

They slowly went down the pathway, an eerie green smoke becoming visible. It was coming from a green liquid in several rectangular pools. There were also even more bones in a corner of the chamber. Positioned throughout the room were three mud-coloured, scrawny figures, which had holes for eyes and mouths.

"Navi, what are those?" Link asked cautiously, peering at a zombie-like figure standing motionless from the side of the doorway.

"It's a ReDead. Its gaze will paralyze you. If it bites you, do anything to escape."

"B-Bite?" Terriermon chattered nervously, and gulped.

Renamon suggested, "We should strategize on what we're going to do beforehand."

"I'm with Renamon," said Jen. "We can't run straight out or they'll see us. The left way looks like the best way to go, since there's only one ReDead. All we have to do is get past that one ReDead, and then without the other two seeing us."

"Right," said Ruki.

"OKAY!" shouted Guilmon, and ran up to the ReDead.

"Guilmon, wait!" Takato cried, but Guilmon had already blasted the ReDead with a "Fireball!" The ReDead let out a big moan, and fell to the floor. Everyone stared at Guilmon, then at the limp ReDead, dumbfounded.

"Zombie go bye-bye!" said Guilmon proudly. Takato sighed, both a breath of relief and exasperation. Everyone walked past the fallen ReDead, Guilmon remaining where it was, waiting for Takato.

"Guilmon, you should stop doing such dangerous things."

"Sorry, Takato."

Link was waiting for Takato to catch up to the others, when the Tamer noticed him standing behind.

"Oh, sorry, Link," Takato apologized, turning to him.

"Huh?"

"Am I in your way?"

"No, I was just –"

"Takato!" called Terriermon "Hurry up, you can lecture Guilmon later."

"I'm not lecturing him," Takato called back, walking towards the others. Link and Guilmon followed.

When Link passed by the ReDead, it twitched. Navi stopped and stared at it. Suddenly, the ReDead sprouted up and turned to Link.

"Link!" Navi yelled. "Watch out!" Everyone turned to see the ReDead up again. Link spun around, becoming paralyzed as he locked eyes with the ReDead's petrifying gaze. The ReDead lumbered toward Link slowly, grabbing him.

"Ack!" Link bellowed, trying to get the ReDead off of his head. The ReDead lurched back, preparing to bite.

Takato ran towards him. "Link!" He had to do something to help him. He wasn't sure what, but he had to do something. He latched on to one of Link's arms, trying to pull him away from his captor. "Let go of him!" The ReDead was moaning in protest.

"Takato!" Jen shouted. "Don't look at it!"

Screwing his eyes shut, Takato planted his foot at one of the ReDead's sides. It felt terrible under the sole of his foot, but he pushed it aside. "I said – let – go – of – HIM!" Takato grasped at Link's left hand with his own. All of a sudden an intense luminosity surrounded them, engulfing the entire room. The others shielded their eyes as multiple groans, grunts, and shouts were uttered.

Link fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Beside him was Takato, trying to recover from the initial shock of what just happened. As the light dimmed down, they were able to see what had happened to the ReDead. All three of them were white and still like statues, the one by Link and Takato crumpled up on the floor. The two of them backed away in alarm as they were just inches away from the ReDead.

When Takato bumped into the wall, he realized that there was something strapped to his back. "Wha?" He tried looking over his shoulder to see what was there. About the only thing he could make out was a handle sticking out from behind. "I-Is that a -?"

"It's a sword," Navi finished for him. Having a momentary lapse in amazement, the Fairy nudged Link in the shoulder. "Hurry and get up. They won't be down for long." Takato and Link quickly got up and scurried to where the others were waiting. "I didn't think that the ReDead would get back up. I'm sorry."

Jen raised his eyebrows. "ReDeads can get back up?"

"Only a few I think."

"Of course," said Terriermon. "They're called ReDeads, so they probably can't die again."

Link turned to Takato. "Thank you for saving me."

"Uh – no problem," Takato replied awkwardly, still surprised by what happened. He pointed at his back as he faced it towards Link. "Do I really have a sword?"

The other boy gaped. "And a shield. They look exactly like mine!"

"Really?" Takato clumsily pulled them off his back to see for himself. "Wow… I can't believe it! How – uh." He stopped mid-sentence upon catching sight of the back of his left hand. The triangular piece of the Triforce which had been half filled in was now glowing as a whole. "What… what's going on?"

"It must be the whole situation about us dressed as those searching for the Triforce," Jen decided. "Probably when you helped Link, it caused that sort of reaction."

Takato and Link were in awe of this new "connection" Jen had found.

"Hmm…" Terriermon glanced at Ruki thoughtfully. "Hey, now you're the only one who's defenseless, Ruki." Terriermon laughed, but stopped abruptly at the sight of the malevolent look Ruki was giving him. The small Digimon coughed.

"Takato, you okay?" Guilmon asked him.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm okay."

"Oh, good. Now you can look at this." Guilmon was examining a wall with markings all over it, and Triforce at the top.

"I guess we continue through here?" Takato gazed up at the opening.

Navi flew by his head. "Let's go then."

They walked up the path and ended up in a room with those green pools of liquid on either side again, a stone path leading up to some stairs. A platform resided at the other end with lit torches on both sides accompanied by more bones. Upon reaching the platform, there was writing near the top which read:

'This poem is dedicated to the memory of the dearly departed  
members of the Royal Family.'

Something else was etched into the wall near the bottom.

Jen bent down to take a better look. "It looks like a musical score."

Link blinked. "Shall I… play it?" He took out his ocarina once again.

Straightening back up, Jen replied, "Go ahead."

"As long as nothing blows up again," Terriermon muttered as he backed away, along with the others at hearing his comment.

Link glanced over the scale before preparing to play. He blew into the instrument, stretching his fingers across the holes. When the music softened at the end, a beam of light shone down on him, and the ocarina shimmered.

"Whoa," said Terriermon. "What just happened?"

"Link learned a new song," Navi answered evidently. "The Sun's Song."

"The sun has a song?" Terriermon thought out loud.

"It's just a title," Ruki pointed out with a testy tone. "It was the song the composer brothers made."

"Ohhh," Terriermon voiced, hiding behind Jen at the sight of yet another glare from Ruki.

"I think we're done here," said Navi. "Let's get out of here." Everyone nodded and started down the path out, but paused at the room with the ReDead. "Link," Navi whispered to get the boy's attention. "Play the Sun's Song. I think it will paralyze the ReDead like how that light from before did."

Nodding, Link pulled out his ocarina out and played the Sun's Song. As Navi predicted, the ReDead turned white and frozen as stone. They all ran out as fast as they could, past the ReDead, through the door, and up onto the platform leading them out of there. Once they were outside, they were surprised to discover that it was nighttime.

"Wow, how long did we take?" Terriermon wondered out loud. "It's already night."

"I don't know," said Jen. "It looks like we lost track of time." As they were leaving, Terriermon noticed the boy was gone.

"All right," Terriermon smirked. "That kid is gone. Now I can prove my theory." Terriermon ran up to the grave with flowers, grabbed the back of it, and pulled. Jen noticed Terriermon was missing and looked around to see that he was at the grave again.

"Terriermon, what are you doing?"

The others turned to see Terriermon fooling around with the headstone. By the time Jen caught up to him he had already forced it back. Terriermon jumped on top of the stone to see what he had done. A square hole was revealed in front of him. "So, there _was_ something different about this grave. Darn, so I was wrong." Leaning on the gravestone's slant, Terriermon slipped down into the hole. "WAHHhhhhhh…!"

"Terriermon!" Jen jumped into the hole, following his partner. When the others saw this, they ran to the grave.

"Jen!" Takato called down. "Are you two okay?"

Another voice echoed up the pit. "Yeah, we're fine. But there's something down here."

Takato gulped. "Something alive?"

"No, it's – well, why don't you come and see for yourself."

The brown-haired Tamer exchanged glances with Link. They both went down the abyss along with Navi, leaving Ruki and the other Digimon above ground.

Once the two boys were on their feet, they could see a platform with lit torches, bones on either side, and a backing similar to in the Royal Family's grave. The thing about this one however was that there was nothing written there – only a large, brown stone wall, with Terriermon and Jen staring at a chest. Takato and Link went straight down and up a few stairs to the platform.

Takato's eyes set on the chest. "What's in there?"

"Well, we didn't open it, so we don't know," Terriermon retorted. "So here goes." He put his paws upon the cover and lifted it up. Inside was an ornate shield – a Hylian Shield.

Terriermon held it up in his ears. "A shield?"

Jen stared at the shield, and then turned to Link. "I think it should be yours."

"Mine?"

"Mm. Is that all right with you, Takato?"

The Tamer started. "Uh – yeah, sure." He pointed at his back. "I just got these, so I guess I should practice before getting something like that."

"Yeah, okay," Terriermon groaned. "Just someone take this thing!" It looked like Terriermon's legs and ears were about to give out at any moment.

Link took the shield off Terriermon's ears. "Um… thank you."

"You're welcome I guess," said Terriermon sadly, having hoped that there would be ruppees inside.

"It's a bit big for you though Link," Navi commented. "But maybe it will come in handy sometime."

They left the secret hole and were greeted by the others. While Link explained what happened, Jen, Terriermon, and Takato pushed the gravestone back over the hole.

As they traveled from the graveyard back to the village, a thought entered the goggled one's mind. "Hmm… Where are we going to stay for the night?"

"Why don't we try that women's house?" Ruki suggested. "She did offer us to stay before."

"Oh yeah, let's see if she'll still have us stay."

With that in mind, they walked past a well full of water, with a metal ladder going down the inside. There was a sign in front of it. It read:

'Dark! Narrow! Scary!  
Well of Three Features'

"Well of Three Features?" Takato read bemusedly. "What does that mean?"

Jen looked at the sign as well. "Don't know."

Terriermon raised an eyebrow at his Tamer. "There's a first."

"Let's just keep going before it gets any later," Ruki sighed.

They continued toward the woman's house, where Terriermon found his cucco.

Suddenly Guilmon noticed something. "Who's that?" He scampered toward the tree that was situated near the front of the village. Choosing to once again chase after the Digimon, they found a figure sitting slouched over on a red block underneath the tree where the carpenters' boss had been. The group discovered it was a man, though very malnourished looking. He wore yellow pants, black wristbands and shoes, with a ring on each of his middle fingers. With no pupils, hair, and thick eyebrow muscles, he looked quite a pitiable creature indeed. A small bag sat to his left, though no one conjured up what might be inside. His face gave the impression that he had lost all hope in life.

"Hi!" Guilmon said in a tone which contradicted the man's being. "Who are you?"

He gave no response other than a slight twitch of his facial features.

The space between Jen's eyebrows shrunk just a bit as he thought uncertainly. "Are you… the carpenter's son?" His question surprised the others.

The man finally reacted with a distasteful grunt. "People are disgusting," he muttered.

Ruki blinked at him. "What?"

"My own father and mother are disgusting."

"You shouldn't say those things about your parents," Takato mused sadly.

The disgruntled male glowered at the group. "You must be disgusting, too!"

"WHAT!" Ruki shouted. "Where do you get the right to call us disgusting!" The others stared at Ruki in shock. "Just because you find your parents disgusting doesn't mean everyone is!" They saw this was going to look bad, so Takato and Jen took her by the arms, and dragged her away towards the woman's house against Ruki's protests.

When they came in, they saw a table by the window with two chairs, another table off to the side, and a square table in the middle off the room with two chairs. The carpenters that were supposedly working in the town earlier that day were staying in the woman's house, lounging around the room. The place smelt of a mingled scent of sweat and cooking food.

Making a face that was tired and repulsed, Ruki murmured, "Okay – forget what I said earlier."

"We don't have much choice," Jen stated. "We have to stay here."

They walked up to the women in order to ask permission for staying the night.

"Well, make yourself at home." She smiled but sounded exasperated. "The food isn't ready yet, though."

"Okay, thanks," Takato nodded.

Sighing, Ruki headed for the door. "I'm going to get some air." In response to her Tamer's wishes, Renamon phased from the others' sight.

Takato and Link took a seat at the middle table, Jen pulling up a chair from the table by the window to join them. Terriermon perched himself on Jen's shoulder while Guilmon plunked himself down on the floor by Takato, Navi glowing overhead. Waiting there, the group was able to pick up on what the rest of the guests were saying.

"I'm starving! Isn't inner ready yet? It's 00:00 already!" the worker on the farthest bed whined.

The worker off to the side joined in by complaining, "I'm starving! Let's eat dinner, right now!"

"Knock it off, you bums!" their boss roared. "Dinner will be ready when it's ready!" He let out a breath of annoyance, turning to his wife to make some grumblings of his own. "Those guys each do the work of half a man, but they still want a full man's portion! They're lazy slackers, I tell you!"

"Nice company," Terriermon said sarcastically to the others.

Jen however wasn't paying much attention to the carpenters. His mind was on a more pressing matter, only revealed when he voiced it voluntarily. "I wonder how much time has passed since we've been away."

Takato looked at him. "You mean back home?"

"Yes. How fast does time pass at home as opposed to here?"

"So… you mean like how in the Digital World the days went by so quickly compared to the Real World?"

"Mm. Except, what if while we're here, time is faster at home?"

Terriermon's eyes widened. "You mean, by the time we get back, Shuichon could be like a teenager or something?"

"No way…" Takato paled. "Which is worse; not getting home or going back to find everyone grown up?" He swallowed. "Katou-san could be… could be…"

Link and Navi looked at their new companions. They were in such a depressed frame of mind, all because they were worried about home.

"No matter what…"

The Tamers and Digimon looked up at the boy from the forest.

"No matter what, I'm going to make sure you guys get home."

His words and confidence were refreshing enough to lighten their spirits. Nodding, they all exchanged assuring smiles with one another.

"Look at this, kids!" One of the carpenters who had been sitting on the floor came up to them, slapping his arms onto the table. "My beautiful, smooth hands are all worn out from working," he sobbed. He leaned towards Takato. "Don't you feel sorry for me?"

"Um… uh… y-yes." He inched away from the abrasive being. "Um… I'm going to go outside for a bit." He was about to ask Guilmon to join him, but noticed that the red dino was eagerly sniffing the air for wafts of food.

Leaving them with the overly dramatic carpenter, Takato walked out into the crisp night air. Right away he could tell that it was a lot fresher outside than inside. That's when he remembered Ruki earlier coming out here for just that. Scanning around the area however, he couldn't see the girl anywhere. He stroll a little further, taking note that the boss' son was still sitting by that tree by himself. Vaguely wondering if Ruki desired the same thing at the moment, he turned to go back.

Takato's mindset changed when he saw the lookout tower stationed nearby. He had seen it going into the village, and had admittedly thought of what the view from there must be like. Seeing this as his chance to do just that, he headed for the bottom of the tower, taking a firm hold of the ladder as he ascended. It was only until he had nearly reached the top when he realized that falling from such a height would not be a pleasant experience. Before he could contemplate going back down before such a thing could happen, his eyes caught sight of someone already at the top of the tower. Someone familiar… His curiosity pushed him on to reach the summit; and when he did, that was where he found her.

She had chosen to remove her headdress, a decision which just about stunned the boy, though now he was allowed to watch as the wind freely played with her ginger strands. She could tell someone else was there, so when she turned her hair brushed against her face, violet eyes shining through the night. She was just as surprised as he was.

"Takato?"

"Um… hi… Ruki." He clambered the rest of the way up onto the landing.

Ruki pushed her hair out of her face, tucking it back underneath her headdress. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see what the view from here was like," he answered quietly. Takato gave her a withdrawn look. "Is it good?"

She stared at him momentarily. Tilting her head back to the scenery, she murmured, "Yes."

Takato approached Ruki with caution as he came to stand beside her.

"So I'm guessing dinner isn't ready yet?"

"No. We passed the time by talking about home."

"… I see."

The boy hesitated in responding. For a moment he considered letting Ruki in on the details of the talk about home. Jen's theory still weighed on his mind, despite the hope that Link's little pep talk provided. If he told Ruki, what would she say? If her reaction was what Takato was feeling, maybe he shouldn't say anything.

"I wonder if our parents have realized we're missing yet." Ruki took the opportunity to speak before he came to a conclusion.

She had taken him off guard by that thought. Takato stared down upon the darkened village. "Mm… I don't know."

Ruki swayed from her original mindset. "What would my mother say, seeing me dressed in this like a princess?" She probably meant for it to be something humorous. Takato however, must not have noticed.

"But, part of your name means princess, doesn't it?"

She stared at him incredulously. "What?" she said, as though she must not have heard him correctly.

"Well… doesn't it?"

Ruki blinked. With a lengthened, but wary tone, she replied, "Yes…"

"Then it fits how you're dressed like that… right?"

She squinted at him through the dimness. "What kind of idiotic conversation are you trying to start here?"

"Huh? N-No, I was just –"

"Look, I don't know where you're going with this, but I don't like it, understand?"

"Uh, o-okay!"

"And another thing; mention this dress or conversation ever again, and I'll –"

"Dinner's ready!" A ball of light suddenly zoomed into view, making them jump in surprise.

"N-Navi!" Takato huffed. "You nearly caused us to fall off!"

"Oh, sorry. Were you really that deep in conversation?"

"Um…" He looked at Ruki leaning on the banister across from him. She had a sour, but startled expression on her face. "No, not really."

"O-kay then!" the fairy replied in a crisp tone. "Then you'd better hurry and get down before those workers suck up all the food." With that last remark, Navi flew back down and into the house. This once again left the two Tamers alone.

Unsure of what to say, Takato mumbled, "Um…" but Ruki was already walking past him, preparing to descend the tower.

Before she disappeared from his sight, she glared at him briefly before withdrawing.

He took it as a hint not to say anything to her. Sighing, Takato took one last gaze at the sublime view from the tower. 'I guess it's time for dinner.'

* * *

Me: And that's the end of that chapter… huh, that sounds like some famous quote… 

Tsubaki: A very normal quote -.-'

Me: But it sounds famous.

Tsubaki: Not .

Me: Whatever!

Tsubaki: --

Me: Anyway! Next chapter they go to Death Mountain!

Tsubaki: Hope it doesn't seem boring again q.q

Me: With falling boulders and monsters everywhere? Plus the Gorons!

Tsubaki: True. Wonder how that's gonna work…

Me: Yeah, well we'll see.

Tsubaki:P


End file.
